Terzic's team is ready to face European soccer's 'final boss'

DORTMUND, Germany — Saturday's clash with Real Madrid will not be coach Edin Terzic's first Champions League final experience with Borussia Dortmund — but this time around he will be closer to the action.

Jurgen Klopp was in the dugout the last time Dortmund made a Champions League final, which it lost 2-1 to rival Bayern Munich at Wembley — the same venue as Saturday's showpiece.

Born just outside Dortmund, Terzic — the lifelong BVB fan who rose through the ranks to take over as manager — said Tuesday that being in the crowd for the 2013 final was part of his "personal story as to why I'm sitting here today".

While veterans Mats Hummels and Marco Reus took the pitch alongside current assistant coaches Nuri Sahin and Sven Bender 11 years ago, Terzic, then an assistant coach for Dortmund's U-17s, made the pilgrimage in an unofficial capacity.

"My trip in 2013 was as a fan. Mats Hummels, Marco Reus, Nuri Sahin, Sven Bender, they were on the team bus. I was on the fan bus.

"We all have a personal story, and I don't really want to put mine in the foreground. It's just about us going on a journey together."

'Not only a fan'

Terzic's tale is a rarity in international soccer, but has, at times, counted against him, giving rise to a perception he is in the job on the weight of the romance of his story, rather than for his skill on the training ground.

Speaking with DAZN on Tuesday, he said: "It's not like I was sitting in the stands and someone said 'we'll take him'.

"I wasn't only a fan — I worked here, as a junior coach, a scout, an assistant coach and then a manager of the professional side."

The doubters remain, despite Terzic's record in charge of Dortmund.

As an interim coach, Terzic took Dortmund to the German Cup in 2021 just a few months after taking over.

In his first full season he had Dortmund on course for the Bundesliga title, until a last-day 2-2 draw with Mainz handed Bayern its 11th straight championship.

At the end of his second full season, Terzic has Dortmund in the Champions League final — something that only Klopp and Ottmar Hitzfeld have done before.

Speaking with journalists on Tuesday, Terzic said that fateful day against Mainz was "a part of the path to success", which continues on Saturday.

"It was not the nicest day, but what I experienced, I will not forget." It's part of us, of me."

'It's about time Real lost'

Bayern's narrow loss in the other semifinal this season, defeated 4-3 over two legs, deprived Dortmund of a chance at revenge.

Terzic's men will instead line up against Real, one of the few teams more decorated than Bayern in Europe.

Champions League winner in 1997 when it beat a highly fancied Juventus 3-1 in Munich, Dortmund has overcome the odds as an underdog before.

The statistics, however, show just how up against it Dortmund will be on Saturday.

Real has won the competition 14 times — six of which have come since Dortmund's last appearance.

Los Blancos have not lost any of their past eight finals dating back to 1981, when Terzic was not yet born.

The 41-year-old joked it was about time Real lost a final.

"Our goal is to win the Champions League. And if you want to win the Champions League, you have to beat the champions.

"And now, the absolute champion in the history of football, and especially in this competition, awaits us.

"To use a video gaming term, they're the 'final boss'.

"Statistically, they're on track to win it again this year — but none of that counts."

AFP