Football is, indeed, a funny old game.

Given the regular twists of fate the football calendar can throw up, it should perhaps be little surprise to see the start Marco Rose has been handed after being appointed RB Leipzig head coach this week.

The first two Bundesliga games for Rose will be against his former clubs, Borussia Dortmund and Borussia Monchengladbach, either side of a trip to the Santiago Bernabeu to play Real Madrid in the Champions League.

"We all play in the same league so we'll face every team at some point," he said after he was announced by Leipzig. "It's definitely special and exciting, but I have a lot of work to do here so the scheduling isn't very important. We'll take it as it comes."

And he's right. Domenico Tedesco's replacement must get off to a good start to get Leipzig's season back on track, and who better to do it against than a Dortmund side that has already opened up a seven-point gap on them?

Opposing starts

After winning just five points from their first five games, Leipzig are experiencing their second-worst start to a Bundesliga season, though they have beaten last season's effort by a point.

Following their 4-0 humbling at Eintracht Frankfurt last time out, they have conceded nine Bundesliga goals already for the first time ever, and have never scored fewer goals at this stage (also six last season).

Dortmund, on the other hand, have collected 12 points from their first five games for the third successive season, sitting second in the table, ahead of Bayern Munich in third.

Edin Terzic's men also won their first two away games for the first time since 2015-16, meaning they could win their first three on the road in a top-flight season for only the third time (also in 2000-01 and 2010-11).

Kiss from a Rose

Marco Rose was in charge of 46 competitive matches as coach of Dortmund last season, but now that he is set to take on his former club in his first match as coach of Leipzig, it must be noted that he has lost five of his last six competitive games against BVB (W1).

New boss Terzic has won all three of his competitive games as head coach against Leipzig, including a 4-1 victory in the 2021 DFB-Pokal final.

In fact, Terzic has recorded more wins and scored more goals (10) against Leipzig than versus any other team, so will be confident of piling more misery on them on Saturday.

Importance of Reus and Nkunku

Marco Reus made it 1-0 to Dortmund for the 45th time in the Bundesliga when he scored against Hoffenheim last week. In doing so, he drew level with Manfred Burgsmuller's club record.

Reus has had a hand in 17 goals in the top flight in 2022 (seven goals, 10 assists) – of current Bundesliga players, only Leipzig's Christopher Nkunku has been directly involved in more (25 – 17 goals, eight assists).

Nkunku will make his 100th Bundesliga appearance on Saturday, should he play, and is the only player since his debut in August 2019 to score at least 30 goals (35) and set up 30 (32).

He was directly involved in five goals against Dortmund last season (two goals, three assists) – a record he did not better against anyone else (four goals, one assist against Hertha Berlin).

Keeping those sheets clean

Leipzig have only ever kept one clean sheet against Dortmund, which came in their first ever competitive meeting, a 1-0 home win in September 2016. They have since conceded at least once in all 12 meetings. Leipzig have never endured such a long wait for a clean sheet against any other side.

Despite losing Erling Haaland to Manchester City, BVB have continued to score goals, and have found the net in each of their last 33 Bundesliga games, the second-longest run in club history (37 games from 2020 to 2021).

No side has kept more clean sheets in the Bundesliga this season than Dortmund (three, level with leaders Freiburg), and only Union Berlin (three) have allowed opponents fewer clear-cut chances than BVB (five, and none over the last two matchdays).

Marco Reus is confident Borussia Dortmund have left last season's poor Champions League campaign firmly in the past.

Dortmund failed to make it out of their group last season, despite having one of Europe's most prolific forwards in the form of Erling Haaland.

Having started with successive wins over Besiktas and Sporting CP, BVB lost three games straight, including a 4-0 defeat to Ajax in Amsterdam.

A 5-0 rout of Besiktas in December was only enough to secure a play-off place for the Europa League last 16, and they lost to eventual finalists Rangers over two legs.

Dortmund get this season's Champions League campaign started with a home game against Copenhagen on Tuesday – it will be the first competitive meeting between the sides since 2001.

With four wins from five games to start the Bundesliga season, Dortmund are in fine form, and Reus, speaking at a press conference on Monday, is sure there is no lingering disappointment from last term.

"[It] is no longer an issue for us," said Reus, Dortmund's all-time top scorer in major European competition with 26 goals.

"But it's a new season and every team that is in it has earned it, and Copenhagen have earned it as well. 

"We've got 90 minutes where we want to show that we're a team and we just want to get the season off to a good start. And that equals, hopefully, a win."

Reus' sentiment was echoed by head coach Edin Terzic, who knows Copenhagen – who have never previously lost their first group-stage match in a Champions League campaign – will be no pushovers.

"There is no team in the Champions League that doesn't deserve to be in the Champions League," said Terzic. "Regarding Copenhagen, they are back I think for the first time since 2016.

"They have been fighting for years to be allowed to play on this stage again and accordingly they will want to start this group stage with a lot of passion, a lot of euphoria.

"It doesn't matter against which opponent we would want to play tomorrow. For us, it's all about getting through the group stage successfully and about performing well at home."

Dortmund are competing in the Champions League/European Cup for the 20th time, having played in UEFA's flagship club competition in each of the last seven seasons.

They have never lost to a Danish club in Europe in four previous meetings, while Copenhagen have not beaten German opposition in 10 matches.

Edin Terzic denounced Borussia Dortmund's late implosion as "brutally stupid" after Werder Bremen came from 2-0 behind in the 89th minute to snatch a 3-2 victory in the Bundesliga.

Goals from Julian Brandt and Raphael Guerreiro had put an off-colour Dortmund in charge of Saturday's game and seemingly on course for three points.

However, Werder never gave up hope and pulled a first goal back through Lee Buchanan, with Niklas Schmidt equalising in the third minute of stoppage time and Oliver Burke completing the turnaround with the winner two minutes later.

With the flurry of late goals, Bremen became the first side in the history of the Bundesliga to score three goals in the 89th minute or later in a single match.

Dortmund head coach Terzic said: "You have to honestly say that it was a deserved defeat. We didn't play well, and it was a very poor performance from us, both in the first and in the second half.

"We didn't manage to control the game. The way we conceded goals at the end is brutally stupid, brutally annoying and now we're empty-handed."

Captain Marco Reus was similarly scathing, telling Sky: "I have no idea what happened. Despite being 2-0 up, we didn't have any control over the game, not even over the 90 minutes.

"Then Bremen scored the goal in the 89th minute and came again. But in the end we just didn't play well throughout the game."

Former Bayern Munich and Germany midfielder Dietmar Hamann, working as a Sky pundit, said Werder's victory was "well deserved".

He said of Dortmund: "I have rarely seen them so confused and desolate over 90 minutes."

Bremen head coach Ole Werner savoured the moment, saying: "It was a turbulent game with a better ending for us.

"Of course there's a bit of luck involved in the end. It wasn't undeserved for the 90 minutes. The last few minutes were pure emotions, that was madness. That cannot be explained rationally."

Borussia Dortmund boss Edin Terzic has described the prospect of signing Cristiano Ronaldo as "the biggest rumour" in the club's history.

The Manchester United striker has been linked with a host of clubs since it became apparent he was unhappy at Old Trafford, with Dortmund among the most recent to be touted.

Their Bundesliga rivals Bayern Munich last month scotched the idea of signing the five-time Ballon d'Or winner, while the likes of Chelsea, Atletico Madrid and Sporting CP have also been suggested as possible next destinations for Ronaldo.

Ronaldo is said to be eager to play Champions League football, which United cannot offer after a dismal sixth-placed finish in last season's Premier League.

Dortmund also need a striker after losing Sebastien Haller, who has undergone surgery and faces chemotherapy after a malignant testicular tumour was discovered shortly after his arrival from Ajax.

Yet Dortmund have cast doubt on the idea of them signing 37-year-old Ronaldo, who was United's 24-goal top scorer last season.

Terzic told German broadcaster Sky on Saturday: "It is clear that Cristiano Ronaldo is the biggest rumour of all time at BVB. We have commented on it and I'm not commenting on rumours."

All the same, Terzic said he was a Ronaldo fan, explaining: "He's one of the best footballers I've ever seen play live."

Dortmund chief executive Hans-Joachim Watzke on Friday poured cold water on the growing rumours that moves were afoot to bring Ronaldo to the club, even if, like Terzic, he professes to being a big fan of the former Real Madrid and Juventus forward.

"Cristiano Ronaldo and Borussia Dortmund? That's very charming at first glance. He is one of the greatest players the world has ever seen," Watzke said.

"The only catch is that there is no contact at all between the parties involved and certainly no transfer."

Edin Terzic needed a record-breaking intervention from his Borussia Dortmund substitutes to achieve his own BVB first in a 3-1 win at Freiburg on Friday.

Dortmund boss Terzic was bidding to become the first coach to win nine consecutive Bundesliga games with the club, but it was all going wrong when Michael Gregoritsch had Freiburg in front at half-time.

And the scoreline was still 1-0 with 20 minutes to go when Youssoufa Moukoko was introduced from the bench.

But the 17-year-old had a huge impact, first teeing up fellow teenager Jamie Bynoe-Gittens to net his first league goal before giving Dortmund the lead himself.

Marius Wolf made sure of the points with two minutes to play, with all three scorers coming on as substitutes – a Bundesliga first for Dortmund.

BVB sold Erling Haaland to Manchester City ahead of this season but clearly have no shortage of young goalscorers, with Bynoe-Gittens picked out by Terzic for special praise.

"It's basically very simple for him: he has the skills to decide games," Terzic told DAZN.

"He's a game-changer – and I wanted to see that from him. And not that he just plays the game, but that he makes the difference. He did that."

Bynoe-Gittens only turned 18 on Monday, with team-mate Jude Bellingham (17 years, 285 days) the sole English player to score in the Bundesliga at a younger age.

Explaining his 64th-minute introduction in a news conference, Terzic added: "We simply opted for the quality of Jamie.

"In the first half, we had a few spaces between the lines where we stuck in the last line for too long.

"But Jamie is someone who can step in and turn up the heat with his first contact – and above all, he can speed up the game again. That's how we imagined it.

"He animated the game very well and was involved in a lot of good offensive moves."

Moukoko also earned plenty of plaudits, with two goal involvements in a single Bundesliga game for the first time. He only contributed two in the whole of last season.

"He's a huge talent," said new signing Anthony Modeste. "I think I can help him. I like to give him tips."

Moukoko added: "We fought for the coach, for the fans and for us. In the end, you saw the emotions.

"We didn't start the game well, and after Freiburg were 1-0 up, it got even more difficult. We needed luck today.

"After Jamie made it 1-1, we were fully in the game. I always felt like we could turn the game around."

Borussia Dortmund coach Edin Terzic is "fully convinced" of the quality in his squad, despite a lack of firepower up front.

Dortmund sold Erling Haaland to Manchester City, with the Norway forward moving on after two-and-a-half years in the Bundesliga.

Haaland scored 86 goals in 89 appearances across all competitions for Dortmund, who brought in Sebastien Haller as the 22-year-old's replacement.

However, the former Ajax and West Ham striker was last month found to have a malignant testicular tumour, with Dortmund confirming the 28-year-old will now undergo chemotherapy.

That has left Terzic, who has replaced Marco Rose as coach, with Donyell Malen – who managed only five league goals in his first season at Dortmund – as his likely striker choice for Saturday's Bundesliga opener against Bayer Leverkusen.

Terzic has no doubt over the quality at his disposal, though he suggested Dortmund will look to bring in another forward before the end of the transfer window.

"A coach's job is to find the best internal solution with the players available," he said in a news conference. "I am fully convinced and we are fully convinced of our squad, of the qualities in the squad. 

"That we also said before the season that we lost something in the centre of attack with the departure of Erling Haaland, which we then wanted to make up for by signing Sebastien. 

"And when these qualities are not available, then of course you have to think about it. We are doing that now. We are in a very close and trusting exchange. 

"But the job of a coach now is to find the best possible solution with the available players that are there. And with the players available, I'm convinced that we can have a very, very good season."

One player who will not be available for Saturday is Niklas Sule. The centre-back signed from Bayern Munich on a free transfer, but suffered an injury in the DFB-Pokal win over 1860 Munich on July 29.

"Unfortunately, Niklas injured his muscle in the first half of the game," Terzic explained. "On the front [of the] thigh. He wanted to keep playing. To be on the safe side, we substituted him at half-time. 

"Unfortunately, he wasn't able to train with us this week, so he's not yet available for the coming weekend. He's already pain-free, so we're slowly starting to not only treat him with therapy. We just hope it doesn't take too long."

Death, taxes and Bayern Munich winning the Bundesliga title.

It is slightly paraphrasing the old idiom to say these are the only three things certain in life.

Such is the optimism of football fandom, though, the question always arises ahead of the new campaign whether this year will be the one where someone steps up and takes Bayern's throne.

The 2021-22 season saw the Bavarian giants claim their 10th Bundesliga title in a row, with Julian Nagelsmann leading Bayern to the championship by eight points in his first season at the Allianz Arena.

Since Jurgen Klopp's exciting Borussia Dortmund side of 2011-12, no team has been able to halt the relentless Bayern dominance of German football.

In fact, in the last decade, only the 2018-19 campaign saw anyone finish closer than the eight points Dortmund were behind last season, when BVB were just two points shy of their Der Klassiker rivals.

How can anyone seriously make the argument that their run will halt any time soon then? Well, let Stats Perform have a go as we take a look at some of the reasons why Bayern might struggle to maintain their stranglehold in 2022-23.

Loss of Lewy means new Bayern approach

Bayern's signing of Robert Lewandowski from Dortmund in 2014 was one of the catalysts for their concerted period of dominance.

However, after eight years of service and 238 goals in 253 Bundesliga games for Bayern, the Poland striker wanted to move on and eventually sealed a transfer to Barcelona.

His goals-per-game ratio in the German top flight of 0.94 bested even the great Gerd Muller (0.85), and his loss was certainly not one Bayern had planned for, with the club initially indicating they expected him to honour the final year of his contract, before finally relenting.

Despite being 33 years old, Lewandowski's impact had not waned at all, with him scoring 50 goals in all club competitions last season, making it seven consecutive seasons with at least 40 goals to his name.

Nagelsmann has insisted his team will evolve in Lewandowski's absence, though, and the signing of Sadio Mane appears to suggest that.

After Lewandowski's sale was confirmed, Nagelsmann told BR24: "I'm not worried right now, we are very well-equipped offensively and I'm still spoiled for choice. We have a possibility of building FC Bayern without a striker that can reliably score 40 goals."

With 120 goals in all competitions for Liverpool, Mane averaged a goal every 178.3 minutes for the Reds – a return of one in slightly under two matches. He also assisted 37 goals, meaning he was directly involved in a goal every 137 minutes.

In the Premier League, only Harry Kane (134), former team-mate Mohamed Salah (118) and Leicester City's Jamie Vardy (104) scored more goals than Mane (90) over the course of his Liverpool career.

His scoring rate has never been close to that of Lewandowski, though he has played a significant amount of his career on the left of a front three rather than through the middle, where he ended last season for Liverpool and is expected to mostly play at Bayern.

That means the likes of Serge Gnabry, Leroy Sane, Kingsley Coman, Jamal Musiala and Thomas Muller will need to step up and contribute more goals, while it will be interesting to see if 17-year-old striker Mathys Tel will feature much in his first season after signing from Rennes.

The club has also added Ryan Gravenberch and Noussair Mazraoui from Ajax, while former Ajax defender Matthijs de Ligt has arrived from Juventus to replace the outgoing Niklas Sule, who chose to swap Munich for Dortmund when his contract expired.

Will Dortmund finally solve flakiness issue?

Marco Rose looked to be a very astute appointment in 2021, but the former Borussia Monchengladbach boss just did not work out at Dortmund.

Rose has been replaced by Edin Terzic, who enjoyed a spell as caretaker boss in the second half of the 2020-21 campaign, winning the DFB-Pokal.

Terzic now has the reins permanently and has two big jobs on his hands.

The first is fixing a leaky defence, which conceded 52 goals in the Bundesliga last season, more than any other team to finish in the top eight, and only one goal fewer than relegated Arminia Bielefeld.

The club may have addressed the issue in the transfer market as they have essentially procured the German national team's central defence by adding Sule from Bayern on a free transfer and the highly rated Nico Schlotterbeck from Freiburg.

Schlotterbeck won 69 per cent of his duels in the Bundesliga last season, the joint-most of all players who contested at least 100 duels, while Sule was third with 68 per cent.

Another issue that needed addressing was similar to Bayern's Lewandowski issue, with Erling Haaland having departed for Manchester City.

The Norwegian scored 86 goals in 89 appearances at Dortmund, including 22 of their 85 league goals last season, though he was only able to feature in 24 games due to injury.

Sebastien Haller was signed to replace Haaland but will unfortunately miss the first few months of the campaign after undergoing surgery for a testicular tumour.

The addition of exciting young talent Karim Adeyemi from Salzburg will give them a dynamic in attack they have missed since selling Jadon Sancho to Manchester United, while in Haller's absence it will be interesting to see if Youssoufa Moukoko, still just 17-years-old, can add to the five Bundesliga goals he already has to his name.

Having also signed defensive midfielder Salih Ozcan from Cologne to provide some steel alongside Jude Bellingham, who it appears they will be keeping hold of for another season at least, the balance of a frequently wobbly side could be there for Terzic to build some momentum.

Best of the rest

Bayer Leverkusen enjoyed a strong campaign last season and have replaced Lucas Alario with promising Czech striker Adam Hlozek.

They also appear to have fought off interest in Moussa Diaby so it would not be a surprise to see them go well again, but with Champions League football to contend with, questions remain whether they have the depth of squad to excel on all fronts.

RB Leipzig will hope to provide a challenge and have also kept hold of their star player in Christopher Nkunku, though losing Tyler Adams and Nordi Mukiele will be a blow, while Eintracht Frankfurt will want to build on last season's Europa League success.

It would be churlish to write Bayern off, of course. They go into the season as heavy favourites and rightly so.

Mane might not have the same goalscoring output as Lewandowski, but football has proven time and again that having one player who scores lots of goals is not the only way to be successful.

The African Football Player of the Year has the chance to be the face of the new Bayern, where everyone will be expected to chip in and Nagelsmann can truly cement his ideas on the team.

However, while Bayern have been somewhat forced into a new era, Dortmund appear to have reached theirs more by design and if everything clicks early on for Terzic, an exciting title race could develop.

After all, the only thing that is certain about football is that nothing is certain.

Borussia Dortmund boss Edin Terzic disclosed that players were only informed of Sebastien Haller's tumour after their loss to Valencia.

Dortmund played their first foreign opponent in preparations for the upcoming season on Monday, with a Goncalo Guedes brace helping Valencia to a 3-1 win in Austria.

It was overshadowed by news of Haller's diagnosis of a testicular tumour, however, ruling him out indefinitely, after the 28-year-old travelled back to Dortmund for medical tests over the weekend and missed the game.

Terzic admitted it was hard to focus on the task at hand upon his discovery of the news as the team prepared to depart for the match, but wished the Ivory Coast international a speedy recovery.

"The week went very well until yesterday," Terzic said on Tuesday. "The message from Sebastien Haller shocked us. Personally, I found out about half an hour before leaving for the game.

"Accordingly, it wasn't easy for us to think about tactics, pressing and passing again. We still tried to make it as professional as possible. We didn't talk to the team about it before the game, but informed the team afterwards.

"Sebastien Haller left us yesterday and traveled to Germany for further investigations. We keep our fingers crossed for Sebastien and the entire Haller family that he will recover as soon as possible."

Initially taking over from Lucien Favre in December 2020, Terzic was reappointed as the first team coach on a permanent basis in the off-season following Marco Rose's departure.

The 39-year-old revealed he has experienced a smoother transition into the role as Dortmund boss, despite Haller's recent diagnosis.

While he believes it will take time for his BVB side to be truly ready for the season ahead, the added time to work on patterns of play has made his job less chaotic.

"The biggest difference is that when I first became head coach, I was told on a Sunday morning and we had an away game on Tuesday night," Terzic said.

"You couldn't prepare many things and decided a lot quickly and intuitively. We now have weeks of advance notice to plan this preparation and the match opponents, to shape the group and to promote the integration of the newcomers. That's a key difference.

"The preparations won't be finished next Friday either, but it will still take some time before we're where we want to be at the end and we're showing consistently good football with a lot of automatisms. It will still take a little time, but we are on the right track."

Borussia Dortmund fans will soon be able to "party like never before", says Edin Terzic, if they unite behind the side ahead of next season.

Terzic was named as Dortmund's new coach on Monday, replacing Marco Rose, who was dismissed after the culmination of the Bundesliga campaign.

Rose only had a sole season in charge, leading BVB to second place but exiting the Champions League in the group stage and failing to advance through a Europa League play-off against Rangers.

Terzic enjoyed an interim spell in charge of Dortmund in 2020-21 after Lucien Favre was sacked and led the club to DFB-Pokal glory, and he has now looked to rally the fans again.

"I would like to thank all those responsible at BVB around Hans-Joachim Watzke, Sebastian Kehl and Michael Zorc for this great trust, the great opportunity and the huge responsibility that is being handed over to me," said Terzic as he was presented as Dortmund coach.

"But now to you, dear BVB fans. Just under a year ago, we were allowed to celebrate the DFB-Pokal victory in Berlin. But it was far too quiet [due to COVID-19 restrictions].

"Nevertheless, for me, it was the best day in the life of a Borussian. Today it's similar. Especially for me. Therefore, a small request. Let's be as hungry as never before.

"Let's work as hard as never before. But let's also be as positive as never before. Most importantly, let's be louder than ever.

"Then I'm sure we'll have a great chance to party like never before. I'd love that. In this sense. See you soon in the most beautiful stadium in the world."

Edin Terzic has been named as the new head coach of Borussia Dortmund, the club have confirmed.

Terzic enjoyed an interim spell in charge of Dortmund last season after Lucien Favre was sacked in December 2020, and led the club to DFB-Pokal glory.

Marco Rose was eventually named as full-time head coach but was sacked earlier this month with Dortmund having finished eight points behind Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich, and underwhelmed in both the Champions League and Europa League.

Terzic, who was first brought to Signal Iduna Park as an assistant to Favre and had been serving as technical director, consequently returns to the role on a deal until June 2025.

"By now, many people are likely to be aware of the special importance BVB holds in my life. I'd therefore like to express my sincere thanks to Aki Watzke, Michael Zorc and Sebastian Kehl for the great trust they have placed in me and for giving me this great responsibility," Terzic told the club's official website.

"We will do everything in our power every day to make the team and the entire club successful."

Soon-to-be sporting director Kehl added: "We held several intensive discussions with Edin Terzic last weekend and are convinced that this personnel decision is the right one for BVB. 

"Edin knows our club, the environment, a large part of the team and the areas we would like to fine-tune to be able to offer successful football to our fans. 

"The 2022-23 season constitutes a fresh sporting start. We will press ahead with this together with great joy and passion."

Dortmund have already been busy preparing for next season, with Salih Ozcan joining from Cologne on Monday – their fourth signing after Karim Adeyemi, Niklas Sule and Nico Schlotterbeck had already agreed to join.

However, Terzic will no longer be able to call on the talents of superstar striker Erling Haaland, who is moving to Manchester City.

Borussia Dortmund managing director Hans-Joachim Watzke insists there is no economic need to sell Erling Haaland amid speculation he will remain in Germany until next year.

Haaland netted a double as Dortmund won the DFB-Pokal final 4-1 over RB Leipzig, with Jadon Sancho also chipping in with a brace.

The title is a major boost for Dortmund's hopes of retaining Haaland, who has been linked with Real Madrid, Barcelona, Manchester City and Chelsea this off-season.

Dortmund's uplift in Bundesliga form, which has seen them move into the Champions League spots, has also aided their cause to convince the Norwegian to stay.

"You always have fears in my job," Watzke said after Thursday's DFB-Pokal victory.

"We definitely want to keep Erling with us next season. You can see his value, you saw how committed he is last Saturday against Leipzig, with joy.

"Besides we still have it in our own hands, we just have to win twice more now. We have managed the club solidly for so many years, when we go into the second or third year of the coronavirus, then we have to take out a few loans at some point we will pay them back.

"But there is absolutely no economic need to sell him, regardless of whether it is a Europa League or Champions League."

Watzke also casually revealed that interim head coach Edin Terzic had extended his deal with the club to presumably work as an assistant under Marco Rose.

"Edin Terzic did a great job," he said. "He took over the team in December, it was half dead, and he brought it to life. That is a huge achievement at his first coaching station.

"He's holding the keys in his hand. He extended a long-term contract a few weeks ago.

"He's a Dortmund boy, he lives and breathes the club. If Edin wants to do something different, then we have to work with him. But we won't do that now."

Terzic was delighted with the DFB-Pokal success but remained focused on the bigger picture, with Dortmund determined to confirm a top four league spot with two games to play.

"That was definitely not our best game, but we found the key to success," he said.

"Now we all deserve to enjoy this evening tonight but the season is not over for us yet."

Outgoing Leipzig head coach Julian Nagelsmann, who will finish his time at the club without a trophy, said it was a "painful" loss.

"You can imagine that I'm not doing well but it's not about me, it's about the club," he said.

"It's painful. I know what the headlines are like now… We still have two Bundesliga games that are not that pleasant. I'm not thinking about my move [to Bayern Munich] now.

"I'm proud of the boys. "We weren't the worse team, we just scored fewer goals. Dortmund makes a lot out of a little."

Edin Terzic is hopeful Erling Haaland will not take long to recover from a thigh injury that forced him to miss Borussia Dortmund's emphatic DFB-Pokal win over Holstein Kiel.

Striker Haaland watched on from the stands as Dortmund clinched a place in the final, triumphing 5-0 against second-tier opponents as all their goals arrived in the first half of the contest.

Giovanni Reyna was on target twice while Marco Reus, Thorgan Hazard and Jude Bellingham also scored for BVB, who will now face RB Leipzig in Berlin on May 13.

However, before having the chance to secure silverware, the focus reverts to securing a top-four finish in the Bundesliga - and Terzic is confident leading scorer Haaland will be involved in the run-in.

Dortmund have a final rehearsal against Leipzig to come next, the first of three crucial league games as they aim to qualify for next season's Champions League.

"Erling being out had its origins in Wolfsburg last weekend, where he had a great performance," Terzic told the media. 

"Two or three minutes before the end he conceded a hit on his thigh. He stayed in pain. In the first few days, he tried to return to training but had some little problems.

"Yesterday, he told us that he couldn't play, that it would be too painful, so we decided to take him out for today's game. But we are confident that it won't take long to recover.

"Maybe he can join the team's training midweek and fully recover for the next Bundesliga tasks and the cup final."

While Haaland could be back soon, team-mate Mateu Morey seems set for an extended spell on the sidelines after suffering what looked to be a serious leg injury late in proceedings.

Morey had only come on as a substitute just after the hour mark, yet had to be carried off on a stretcher in the 74th minute.

Terzic admitted the full-back's situation had tarnished the result, particularly as Dortmund were coasting towards the final whistle at the time it happened.

"We totally wanted to go to the cup final and up until the 75th minute, it seemed like a perfect night for us," he said. 

"But the injury to Mateu tarnished everything for us. Especially when you know what a good boy he is.

"When he lies on the floor in pain, it is hard to think about the win or the game."

Jadon Sancho and Raphael Guerreiro will be assessed before a decision is made on whether they can play any part in Borussia Dortmund's Bundesliga showdown with rivals Bayern Munich.

England international Sancho hobbled off the pitch two minutes after scoring what proved to be the winning goal in Tuesday's 1-0 DFB-Pokal quarter-final win against Borussia Monchengladbach.

He watched the final 22 minutes from the bench with an ice pack on his upper leg, with interim head coach Edin Terzic confirming after the match the 20-year-old had sustained a muscular issue.

Guerreiro, used 29 times in all competitions this season, limped off in the opening five minutes of the cup tie and both players are now doubtful for Saturday's Klassiker at the Allianz Arena.

"Jadon and Raphael were examined immediately after the Gladbach game and we have to carry out further examinations," Terzic said at a pre-match news conference on Thursday.

"It could be tight for both of them, but we're not giving up hope that they will fly to Munich with us tomorrow."

Being without Sancho would be a major blow for Dortmund, who are looking to avoid losing a fifth league game in a row against Bayern for the first time since between 1968 and 1970.

After a largely underwhelming first half to the campaign, the attacking midfielder has been directly involved in 12 Bundesliga goals in 2021, finding the net six times and setting up six more.

Only Bayern striker Robert Lewandowski has scored and assisted more this calendar year (13 in total – 11 goals, two assists), with Eintracht Frankfurt duo Filip Kostic and Andre Silva next on the list with 10 goal involvements apiece.

Lewandowski has 28 Bundesliga goals to his name in total this campaign - just 12 short of Gerd Muller's long-standing record in a single season - for a Bayern side on a 36-game run since last failing to score in the league.

No team in Europe's top five leagues has found the net more times than Bayern (67) in 2020-21 and Terzic, who will be replaced by Marco Rose at the end of the campaign, acknowledged his side will have to be alert at the back this weekend.

"It is clear that the toolbox of the opposition is very large," he said. "We will try to support each other and block the flanks and cover the posts. 

"They score a lot of goals. It would be best if we don't let them get into the final third of the field.

"There will be phases where we have to suffer. That counts when you play in Munich, but it does not rule out being brave yourself and being dangerous. Small things will make the difference in such close matches."