PARIS — Borussia Dortmund has no qualms about coping with an electric Anfield atmosphere Thursday when the German giant takes on Liverpool in the second leg of their Europa League quarterfinal.
Divock Origi’s away goal, later canceled out by a Mats Hummels header in a 1-1 draw in Dortmund, put Liverpool in a favorable position as Jurgen Klopp made an emotional return to his former club.
However, Dortmund coach Thomas Tuchel is confident his side can reach the last four despite Liverpool’s imposing home record against German opposition with the Reds unbeaten in 15 matches.
“We can score away goals too, and we can score more than one,” said Tuchel, whose team effectively surrendered any hopes of chasing down Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga after twice conceding the lead in Sunday’s 2-2 draw at Ruhr Valley rivals Schalke.
“We are not frightened. We have been to a lot of places and scored and won,” he added, with Dortmund unbeaten in 18 games since the turn of the year.
Liverpool midfielder James Milner though is counting on the Anfield faithful to spur on the home side as it continues its quest for a 12th European trophy, three of which have come in this competition.
“Any player wants to play in the big games and the best atmospheres. European nights at Anfield are definitely right up there with anywhere on the planet,” Milner told the club’s official website.
Liverpool will likely be without captain Jordan Henderson for the rest of the season after the England international injured his knee during the first leg at the Westfalenstadion.
Sevilla can move a step closer toward a third successive title when it hosts La Liga rival Athletic Bilbao, with the holder leading 2-1 from the first leg.
Veteran striker Aritz Aduriz headed Athletic in front with his competition-leading ninth goal at San Mames, but goals from Timothee Kolodziejczak and Vicente Iborra put Sevilla in control after their first away win in Europe this season.
Four-time champion Sevilla is on a record run of 11 straight home victories in the Europa League, while Unai Emery’s men beat Athletic 2-0 when the sides met in the league in January.
Cedric Bakambu continued his excellent debut season with Villarreal, scoring both goals in a 2-1 win at home to Sparta Prague last week.
The Democratic Republic of Congo striker struck again in Sunday’s 2-0 victory over to Getafe to keep Villarreal on course for next season’s Champions League and the Spaniards will look to him once more to fire it into the semifinals in the Czech Republic.
Shakhtar Donetsk, the 2009 UEFA Cup champions, is in the driving seat in its tie against 2011 runner-up Braga after a 2-1 victory in Portugal.
However, the Ukrainian outfit suffered a costly blow to its domestic title hopes at the weekend after conceding an injury-time equalizer in a 3-3 draw at Stal Dniprodzerzhynsk to fall five points behind leaders Dynamo Kiev.
