Klopp gives 'top marks' to Dortmund

Borussia Dortmund coach Jurgen Klopp has given his side a glowing report for the first half of the season after yesterday's 4-1 win over Freiburg clinched second place in the Bundesliga table behind Bayern Munich. Dortmund find themselves just three points behind Bayern at the turn of the year and Klopp says he could not have asked for anything more than that given the circumstances. "Thirty-four points, that is the second-best tally for a first half of the season since I have been here, and we have done that with the title weighing us down in our rucksack," he said. "I would give us top marks for this first half of the season." According to their general manager Hans-Joachim Watzke, second place is the very best they could have aimed for in the first four months of the season. And he says his side are now well on course for achieving their goals for the season. "We are in a fantastic position," he told Liga total. "We always said that Bayern Munich will win the league and that is what they think too, so who are we to contradict them? But now we must not lean back and relax because we have a tough game on Tuesday." Dortmund head to Dusseldorf in the third round of the DFB-Pokal in midweek aiming to book a place in the quarter-finals of the competition and add the cherry on top of a triumphant year.