Borussia Dortmund legend Ibrahim Tanko has given his candid assessment of his former side in the wake of their upcoming Uefa Champions League tie against Dinamo Zagreb.
Tanko featured for the German club from 1994 to 2001.
The crowning moment of his injury-hit Dortmund career, which saw him make a minimal 71 appearances, came when he played a part in Dortmund’s Champions League-winning side in the 1996-97 season.
Since then, Dortmund have yet to win Europe’s elite competition, although they have come close in recent times.
In 2013, fierce rivals Bayern nick the trophy from Dortmund after a 2-1 win, while Real Madrid prevented Dortmund from clinching the Champions League in last season’s final.
However, Dortmund have looked bright this term, winning three games and scoring the second-most goals in the Champions League (13) under coach Nuri Sahin.
Despite this, Tanko believes the near misses, due to inexperience, which is mainly attributed to Dortmund’s young squad, put the German club out of contention for the coveted trophy this term.
“You can never say never, but it is going to be tough when you look at the caliber of teams playing in the competition this season, especially a team like Real Madrid,” Tanko told Flashscore.
“We have a very young team, and maybe if they are kept together and maybe as from next season or more, they stand a chance to compete for the title.
“The manager is new and the team is very young—some of them have not played in the Champions League before.
“I don’t see them winning the Champions League this season because they need a lot of experience to do that and the other teams are stronger.”
Despite giving his honest verdict on Dortmund’s Champions League chances, Tanko advised his former club, which parted ways with Edin Terzic (Champions League finalist coach), to hire experienced managers.
“If they want to get back to the highest level once again, they must hire experienced managers. When we won the Champions League, we were managed by an experienced manager in Ottmar Hitzfeld.
“Since then, we have been changing coaches every two years or yearly. Trust me, Dortmund have the quality players. Let’s hope the current manager would get somewhere,” he added.
Dortmund play Dinamo Zagreb on Wednesday as they look to add to their nine points and move closer to a knockout berth.
The post Dortmund legend Ibrahim Tanko gives candid Champions League verdict on former team first appeared on 3News.
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