Real Madrid’s Portuguese striker Cristiano Ronaldo enjoys himself during his team’s training session yesterday, ahead of tonight’s Champions League quarter-final clash against Borussia Dortmund. (EPA)


DPA/Dortmund, Germany


Do it again, boys” is the defiant headline on Borussia Dortmund’s website ahead of tonight’s Champions League quarter-final date at Real Madrid.
But, confronted with a long injury list and Robert Lewandowski’s supension at the Bernabeu, Dortmund rate themselves underdogs this time around.
Coach Juergen Klopp has declared Cristiano Ronaldo and company “sky-high” favourites, 11 months after his team knocked out Real in the semi-finals.
Lewandowski famously scored all four goals in a 4-1 triumph in Dortmund, but the Germans barely escaped into the final as they were beaten 2-0 in the Spanish capital.
Dortmund’s high-pressing and fast football earned them 2011 and 2012 Bundesliga titles, and they only lost the all-German 2013 Champions League final against Bayern Munich 2-1 in the final minute. But their form has been patchy this season on the domestic and international front. Munich have already clinched the 2014 league title and lead Dortmund by 23 points.
Dortmund only reached the Champions League knock-out stages through a late goal in the last group game at Olympique Marseille.
Major injury woes have played a large part in Dortmund’s struggles as they lack the depth of Munich and other teams. Ilkay Guendogan, Neven Subotic, Jakub Blaszczykowski, Sven Bender and Marcel Schmelzer are the long-time casualties but even heavier weighs the absence of Lewandowski in Madrid.
“You can’t replace Robert,” captain Sebastian Kehl told Kicker magazine.
Marco Reus, who scored a hat-trick in the weekend’s morale-boosting 3-2 victory at VfB Stuttgart from 2-0 down, or Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang are possible options as a false striker.
Dortmund will hope that they can reach a result which is possible to overturn or conserve with Lewandowski in a week’s time. That is not completely out of the question as Kehl said that “we have dealt with it (the injury situation) very well,” and Klopp also doesn’t fully rule out another coup against Real.
“I always say that we don’t have to be the best team in the world.  But we must be able to beat the best team in the world. Borussia can win against the best. We have a chance and there is a chance that we take it,” Klopp told Spanish sports daily Marca.
But Klopp added that Real have strengthened their squad compared to last year with the likes of Gareth Bale, and that the Spanish giants are in a different league overall.
“With our budget and the injuries in our squad we are without doubt the quarter-final underdogs—the Cinderella,” Klopp said.
At the other end, Real responded to their back-to-back defeats in the La Liga, including against Barcelona, with a comprehensive 5-0 win at the weekend against Rayo Vallecano.
“We are coming towards the end and it could be better after two defeats but we are physically in good shape, mentally we reacted well and we are optimistic,” coach Carlo Ancelotti said.
“We will have a good atmosphere (in the stadium). Everyone has a dream, the tenth, and everyone understands that we can win if we are all united and we can realise the dream,” he added.