Borussia Dortmund coach Jurgen Klopp wants his side to solve their Bundesliga issues when they host Hamburg on Saturday.
The Westphalians triumphed for the second time in the Champions League in midweek, following up a 2-0 win over Arsenal with another impressive performance and 3-0 result at Anderlecht.
The star of the show was substitute Adrian Ramos, who scored twice from the bench.
It is not the same story in the Bundesliga, though, with five points already dropped at the Westfalenstadion this season.
“Even I’ve realised that in two Champions League games, we’ve got practically as many points as we have in six Bundesliga games, and also that we’ve not conceded,” said Klopp at a press conference.
“But what does that mean? That we should have played worse against Anderlecht?”
What it means is that Dortmund need to start delivering the same performances and results domestically before it gets too late.
“We’re not looking for excuses, but rather for explanations,” Klopp added. “We’re not making anything out to be harmless, but we do see the positives too. We’re not saying that we have problems in defence, but that there is something to imp-rove as we’ve conceded 11 goals.
“We’re not doing things in the Bundesliga in the way we are used to in the Champions League.
“The Bundesliga for us is the more important competition.”
Staying in the Bundesliga is crucial for Hamburg, who have yet to win a single game this season and only managed their first goal last weekend – in their sixth game.
With just two points this season, the northern Germany side, who avoided relegation only via a play-off in May, risk losing touch with safety if they are beaten for the fifth time, but they travel to Dortmund without goalkeeper Rene Adler, who has been ruled out for five weeks.
Nicolai Muller – the scorer of their one and only goal this season – has recovered from a muscular problem and should be able to keep his place in Josef Zinnbauer’s team.