Borussia
Dortmund will aim to maintain their unbeaten record at home to Real
Madrid in the Champions League today and spoil Cristiano Ronaldo’s 150th
European appearance.
Dortmund and title holders Real meet in the
group stage for the second year running. The teams drew both games 2-2
last season as the Germans topped the section before bowing out in the
last eight while Real went on to win a record 12th title.
Dortmund
have won three and drawn three of their meetings at Signal Iduna Park,
including their dazzling 4-1 first-leg win in the 2013 Champions League
semi-final when Robert Lewandowski scored all four goals.
“There were always great games against Real Madrid,” said Dortmund’s Germany midfielder Mario Goetze on Monday.
“With
Madrid having won the last two Champions League seasons, we of course
have a lot of respect, but we are also in very good shape and full of
confidence.”
Defending champions Real opened their group campaign
with a 3-0 win at home to APOEL while Dortmund suffered a 3-1 defeat at
Tottenham Hotspur a fortnight ago.
‘Philameyang’
The Germans’
main task may be containing four-time Ballon d’Or winner Ronaldo, who
has scored 110 goals in European competition but failed to find the net
in his last two league outings.
The Portuguese superstar is among the
final three nominees for the Best FIFA Men’s Player 2017 award and the
winner will be announced on October 23.
“Ronaldo hasn’t played much of late, but I expect him to be in top form against us,” said Dortmund coach Peter Bosz.
“I don’t believe that Real will be any worse off just because they have a few injured players.”
Real
boss Zinedine Zidane is without a left-back as Marcelo (hamstring) and
Theo Hernandez (shoulder) are both out, so Nacho is set to fill in.
Karim
Benzema is missing with a hamstring injury, but Luka Modric and Gareth
Bale were both rested at the weekend and Toni Kroos is expected to
return after injury.
Dortmund flexed their muscles ahead of the
heavyweight showdown with a 6-1 home drubbing of Borussia
Moenchengladbach in the German league on Saturday as Pierre-Emerick
Aubameyang netted a hat-trick.
The Gabon striker has now scored eight goals in six league games.
He
has forged a partnership — dubbed ‘Philameyang’ by the German media —
with left-winger Maximilian Philipp, who has scored four goals in his
last three games.
Dortmund’s big win over Gladbach came with forwards
Marco Reus, Andre Schuerrle and Raphael Guerreiro injured while new
signing Andriy Yarmolenko, Nuri Sahin and Gonzalo Castro were not used.
Zidane’s worries
While
Dortmund shone in attack, they struggled at the back against Gladbach,
who had half a dozen clear chances to score which went begging.
Real are unlikely to be as forgiving, but they have struggled to create chances of late, which worries their French coach.
Madrid’s
run of scoring in 73 successive matches in all competitions ended when
they lost 1-0 at home to Real Betis last Wednesday.
But they
rebounded with a 2-1 win at Alaves on Saturday as Dani Ceballos scored
his first goals for Madrid on his first competitive start.
“We cannot
be pleased with the amount of opportunities we have created lately, but
I believe in my players,” said Zidane. “I hope our strikers will score
again, but I have always maintained that it is the most important thing
to create chances.”
Real traditionally have a terrible record in
Germany with 19 defeats, seven draws and only five wins. However, four
of those victories have come in their last seven visits and they enjoyed
a 2-1 win at Bayern Munich in last season’s quarter-finals.
Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo warms up during a training session ahead of their UEFA Champions League match against Borussia Dortmund yesterday. (AFP)