Borussia Dortmund's sporting director Michael Zorc has claimed that Champions League qualification is the club's main "?goal for this year, rather than a Bundesliga title charge.
The Bundesliga has become a rather monotonous competition over the past four years, with Bayern Munich winning the title during each of those four years.
Dortmund have also been victims of Bayern Munich in the transfer market over the past few years, with Mats Hummels moving to the Bundesliga champions from Dortmund more recently, whilst Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Ilkay Gundogan have also left Dortmund, moving to Manchester United and Manchester City respectively.
And although Dortmund have resigned Mario Gotze from Bayern, as well as signing German international Andre Schurrle and French youngster Ousmane Dembele, Zorc, who featured in almost 600 matches for Borussia Dortmund during his 17 years at the club, has reiterated that a title challenge may be too much of a strain for the young Dortmund side.
"Of course we are not yet at the level where we want to be," "?Zorc reportedly told Eurosport following Dortmund's 3-0 friendly win over Sandhausen on Monday.
Zorc not expecting Dortmund title challenge https://t.co/Q8GVPOyPPN pic.twitter.com/jTmAB2moIw
"It would be presumptuous to always expect a title. Our objective remains Champions League qualification. We will try to make this season the best we can with our conditions.
"We believe that we are well equipped for the start of the season."
Dortmund's season kicked off on Sunday with their German Super Cup encounter against bitter rivals Bayern, which they lost 2-0 thanks to strikes from Thomas Muller and Arturo Vidal.
Dortmund haven't beaten Bayern to the Bundesliga title since the 2011-12 season, when Jurgen Klopp led the side to the league title.