Dortmund must beat Ajax or face elimination, warns Klopp

18-Sep-2012 6:10:00 PM

The BVB trainer believes that Tuesday's match-up with the Eredivisie giants will be crucial, and has little doubt that his team have learned from their mistakes of the past

Jurgen Klopp has underlined the importance of Borussia Dortmund's Champions League opener at home against Ajax, stressing that the Bundesliga giants can ill-afford to drop points if they are to survive the group stage.

The BVB coach feels Tuesday's encounter will prove crucial for his side's chances to make it to the knockout stages, and is confident they have put last year's poor performance in the competition behind them.

"There is a feeling of us having to win this match against Ajax on Tuesday or we are already out again," Klopp told reporters at a press conference.

"We have defined our way of playing successful football and we will not change things too much for the Champions League.

"Our problems last season did not have much to do with our playing style but were rather a result of lacking experience. That's what we want to work on.

"We have gained a lot of international experience now and we have also learned that our football is working. But we also learned that we need to make fewer mistakes to get results.

"We made bigger mistakes in Europe last season than in the Bundesliga – and unforced ones at that."

Dortmund's clash with Ajax at Signal Iduna Park kicks off at 20:45CET.