Goal.com

The Borussia Dortmund striker is refusing to think about qualifying for the quarter-finals of the Champions League just yet as he is wary of the Ukrainians

EXCLUSIVE
By Laura Reinkens

Borussia Dortmund striker Julian Schieber believes anything is possible when his side face Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League on Tuesday.

The two sides played out a 2-2 draw in the Donbass Arena three weeks ago, and the former Stuttgart man is expecting an open battle at Signal Iduna Park.

"The first leg was very open with a 2-2 scoreline, so anything is possible in the return," he told Goal.com.

"Both teams have to play to win, so the game will obviously be a spectacle! It's a home game in front of a packed crowd, so we will do our utmost to progress to the next round.

"We know that Shakhtar are incredibly dangerous and have great attacking options."

Given their two away goals, BVB are seen by many as the favourites to make the quarter-finals, but Schieber is refusing to think about anything other than the Shakhtar game.

He added: "Every player obviously wants to be in the next round. But we should not talk about the next round or the one after, but we have a whole lot of hard work ahead of us.

"If we reach the quarter-finals, it's obviously a great success for us. Then, anything is possible, but we are not among the favourites.

"It's difficult to say [who the favourites are], because all of the games have not been played. Only by name, of course, Barcelona or Manchester United, perhaps Bayern.

"Against all of those clubs, it won't be any picnic!"

Schieber also revealed he had been monitoring the other German teams' progress in the competition, despite his own commitments with his club.

"We have such a hard week and such intense work that you're lucky if you can watch a game at home and relax on the couch.

"Bayern won their match [against Arsenal] convincingly and showed their quality. Schalke against Galatasaray was also a good game, and there was a positive result in Istanbul.

"Of course, for German football's sake, we hope all three teams make it into the quarter-finals of the Champions League.

"The image of the Bundesliga is always getting better, but this success would still be helpful."

Dortmund and Shakhtar kick off at 20:45CET on Tuesday.