THE BLOG BY CPD FOOTBALL | The World of Indian football and beyond by Chris Punnakkattu Daniel

Robin Dutt confident of German Champions League final

Robin Dutt, Director of Sports of the German Football Association (DFB), is confident that FC Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund will go through to the UEFA Champions League final at the Wembley Stadium.

Dutt made the headlines, when he became the first Indian origin coach to be assigned with a coaching job in one of the top European football leagues. The 48-year-old led SC Freiburg to the 1st Division Bundesliga in 2009 before he succeeded Jupp Heynckes at Bayer 04 Leverkusen in 2011.

Talking about the upcoming UEFA Champions League 2nd leg matches he told: “I’m trying to empathize with the two coaches Juergen Klopp and Jupp Heynckes who will travel to Spain with their teams with an excellent initial situation.”

“The excellent results from the 1st leg will boost the teams with confidence, but on the other hand you are aware of similar situations in the past,” said Dutt. “I recall for example Borussia Moenchengladbach’s 5-1 home victory against Real Madrid (in 1985) and how they lost the away game 0-4.”

“It’s a Champions League semifinal and I think nobody will take the final for granted at the moment – no matter how the results were last week,” told Dutt, who took over the post of the DFB’s Director of Sports from Matthias Sammer in last summer.

“It’s an exceptional quality of young players we have on the pitch. You just need to recall the huge numbers of fans in the stadiums during these matches and the pressure on these youngsters,” he appreciated the young German talents in the two sides.

“The teams need to be fully focused tomorrow and then we would surely see a German final in London,” Dutt concluded.