Match details:

Borussia Dortmund vs. Manchester City
15^th April at 12:30 AM
Venue: Signal Iduna Park, Dortmund.

Preview:

The UEFA Champions League is an annual club football competition organized by UEFA and contested by top-tier European clubs, to determine the champion club of Europe via a group and knockout format. It is UEFA’s elite club competition, where 32 top clubs across Europe battle is out for the right to be crowned European Champions. We have reached the quarter-finals stage, and in this 2^nd leg tie, German Bundesliga side Borussia Dortmund take on the English Premier League side Manchester City. In their previous respective competitive fixtures, Dortmund beat Stuttgart 2-3 away in the Bundesliga, while Manchester City were beaten 1-2 at home by Leeds United in the English Premier League. Dortmund trail City 2-1 from the first leg, but had a morale boosting win against Stuttgart in their last match to claim all three points. Erling Haaland might be taking the world by storm with his number of goals scored, but as a team, they have been inconsistent in Bundesliga this term, finding themselves seven points behind fourth placed Frankfurt on fifth position. With six games to go, going all the way in the current competition seems to be the only way they can play in Europe’s elite competition next year. They have a vital away goal in their kitty, have Europe’s most feared attacker in their ranks, and should attack from the word go when they meet City in the next match. City had a morale-sapping loss in their last match against Leeds United, conceding in the 91^st minute against Leeds United. They have otherwise been unstoppable in the Premier League, and are eleven points clear on the top, but are no means assured of a semi-final place in the Champions League. They would have to quickly put their recent loss behind them and put up a good show against Dortmund in the second leg. They have the form and definitely the team to make it all the way to the finals this term.    

Key Stats & Info: 

• City have won 8 of their last 9 Champions League matches.
• City have scored at least 2 goals in their last 4 Champions League matches.
• Dortmund are unbeaten in 7 of their last 8 Champions League matches, scoring at least 2 goals in 3 of their last 4 Champions League games.

Probable starting XI:

Dortmund:

Hitz (GK), Meunier, Akanji, Hummels, Guerreiro, Bellingham, Can, Dahoud, Knauff, Haaland, Reus

Manchester City:

Ederson (GK), Walker, Stones, Dias, Cancelo, De Bruyne, Rodrigo, Gündogan, Mahrez, Silva, Foden

Key players:

Haaland (Dortmund): Future Balon D’Or winner, Norwegian international forward Erling Braut Haaland joined Dortmund in the 2020 January transfer window from Austrian side Red Bull Salzburg, and has since scored an incredible 49 goals and given 12 assists in 52 games across all competitions. He scored an incredible 44 goals and gave 10 assists in the 19-20 season, split between scoring 28 goals and giving 7 assists in 22 games across all competitions for Salzburg, and scoring 16 goals and giving 3 assists in 18 games across all competitions for Dortmund. He has scored a mind-boggling 33 goals and given 10 assists in just 34 games across all competitions in the current season, and assisted 1 goal in his last match against Stuttgart for a crucial win. In this game, he had 1 shot on goal which wasn’t on target, had 45 touches of the ball, gave 2 key passes, and had a passing accuracy of 82% giving 23 accurate passes. He is in the form of his life and is expected to make a difference in his next match.

Reus (Dortmund): Veteran German international midfielder Marco Reus joined Dortmund in 2012 from fellow Bundesliga side Monchengladbach, and has made 306 appearances for the club across all competitions, scoring an amazing 135 goals and providing 93 assists. He missed some part of the 19-20 season playing only 26 games across all competitions struggling with injury and fitness issues, but still managed to score 12 goals and provide 7 assists in those games. He has scored 6 goals and given 11 assists in 40 games across all competitions in the current season, and scored 1 goal in his last match against Stuttgart, and contributed to an important win. In this game, he played for 67 minutes and had 3 attempts on goal, of which, 2 were on target, had 38 touches of the ball, gave 2 key passes, and had a passing accuracy of 71% giving 15 accurate passes. His versatility, speed, agility, technical skills, intelligence, and shooting ability have always been an asset to Dortmund, and he is expected to make his mark in the remainder of the season.

Gündogan (City): German international midfielder Ilkay Gündogan joined Manchester City from German side Borussia Dortmund in 2016, and has since made 200 appearances for the club across all competitions, scoring 38 goals and providing 26 assists. He was directly involved in 10 goals in the 19-20 season, scoring 5 and assisting 5 in 50 games across all competitions, and is doing brilliantly in the current season, scoring 16 goals and providing 4 assists in 36 games across all competitions. In his last game against Leeds United, he played for 32 minutes and had 1 shot on goal which wasn’t on target, had 29 touches of the ball, gave 1 key pass, and had a passing accuracy of 96% giving 23 accurate passes. He is the club’s current top scorer, and is expected to make a difference in his next match.

Captain & vice-captain picks:

• Haaland (Dortmund)
• Reus (Dortmund)
• Gundogan (City)
• De Bruyne (City)
• Mahrez (City)

Disclaimer: The views expressed here are of the author and is not a reflection of the actual points you might earn.