'We had' - Borussia Dortmund boss namechecks Newcastle United after reaching Champions League final

Borussia Dortmund boss Edin Terzic believes his side’s group stage win at Newcastle United was a turning point after guiding the German side to their first Champions League final in 11 years.

After joining Newcastle and AC Milan in the ‘Group of Death’, Dortmund and Paris Saint-Germain met again in the semi-finals with the former running out 2-0 aggregate winners. Terzic’s side took a 1-0 lead to Paris via Niclas Fullkrug’s goal before Mats Hummels’ header sealed their passage to Wembley on June 1.

Dortmund were ranked as outsiders to reach the final and those odds lengthened when they picked up just one point from opening matches against PSG and AC Milan. However, a 1-0 win at St James’ Park, courtesy of Felix Nmecha’s 45th minute goal, changed the course of their journey. The Bundesliga outfit then beat the Magpies 2-0 at the Signal Iduna Park before going on to top Group F.

In the knockout stages, BVB have battled past PSV Eindhoven, Atletico Madrid and now PSG, with either Real Madrid or Bayern Munich to play in the final.

Reflecting on their European journey so far, Terzic said: “We knew we were going to have chances in that group of death but to be honest, maybe we were after the second game with only one points, and we hadn’t scored a goal.

“Then we had our first great performance and win in Newcastle, a very tough game for us. And from that, we can see that maybe anything is possible, especially if you look at Milan. They had been to the semi-final last season and we won at the San Siro and had an OK performance at home. Then we started to believe and dream.”

Terzic - a former assistant manager to Slaven Bilic at West Ham United - was in charge last season when a 2-2 draw at home to Mainz 05 on the final day saw Dortmund miss out on the Bundesliga title to Bayern Munich.

Twelve months on and Terzic is hoping to bounce back by delivering BVB’s first Champions League title since 1997.

“Incredibly proud,” the 41-year-old added. “I am very proud of the team and staff that have done a fantastic job so far. If you see what happened on the final matchday last season, a very tough day but the support has been there for us.

“They have supported us and gave us so much love. We tried to give something back and today we gave them back belief and a bit to dream.”