Football
Stephan Uersfeld, Germany correspondent 9y

Jurgen Klopp pep talk inspired Borussia Dortmund win - Aubameyang

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang revealed Jurgen Klopp told his Borussia Dortmund players their struggles were all in their heads before a much-changed team claimed a first away win since August.

Dortmund won 3-0 at Freiburg on Saturday to end a miserable run of form away from the Westfalenstadion that had seen the 2013 Champions League finalists collect only two points on the road since their win over Augsburg on Aug. 29.

BVB had fallen to the foot of the Bundesliga after taking only one point from their two games following the winter break, and Klopp reacted by fielding Aubameyang in central attack, with Ciro Immobile or Adrian Ramos left out after failing to impress since arriving in the summer.

Players worth more than 70 million euros in transfers -- and all acquired in the last 18 months -- did not start for BVB. Record signing Henrikh Mkhitaryan, who has recently been linked with a move to Juventus, was on the bench as former Manchester United midfielder Shinji Kagawa started for the first time since November, with Matthias Ginter also among the substitutes and Sokratis Papastathopoulos rested.

However, Aubameyang, who netted a brace after Marco Reus' opener, said the change in fortune had come about after Klopp had reassured the players that their struggles had been purely psychological.

"It was indeed a mental issue," Aubameyang said in Ruhr Nachrichten. "We had a team meeting yesterday, and the coach addressed it and found the right words."

Klopp explained: "In our situation, it's important that you can envision yourself winning a game, and we decided to take that approach to get the team into a positive mood."

Reus had put Dortmund ahead after nine minutes after he, along with Kagawa and Aubameyang, had pressed high up the pitch, and Klopp -- who had come under heavy pressure from German media before the game -- was happy to see the players adopt the style that was so strongly associated with BVB during their recent successful campaigns.

"We did well from the start, put the opposition under pressure and rattled Freiburg's confidence," he said. "I try not to dwell too much on victories. I told the team not to be relieved but to enjoy the win. Today we are at peace with ourselves."

The win saw Dortmund climb into 16th -- the relegation playoff spot -- but Klopp warned: "We must not forget that we have a match coming up on Friday against Mainz.

"Just because we won today doesn't mean we will win the next four games. The team should take from this game that things can go well if they hang in there and believe in themselves."

Borussia Dortmund are now on 19 points and could overtake Klopp's former club Mainz of they win by more than three goals on Friday.

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