Borussia Dortmund are heading to Spain for the last game in the Group Stage of the Champions League with the goal of picking up at least a point against Real Madrid and thus finishing as group winners.
Borussia Dortmund sit atop Group F with a two-point lead over reigning champions Real Madrid, meaning the Spaniards need to win if they are to qualify for the last 16 as group winners. Both teams have already secured their place in the knockout stages of the competition.
Dortmund, who beat Legia Warszawa 8-4 last time out, hold a two-point advantage over Madrid going into their final fixture of the group stage and need only a draw to cement first place.
Despite the fact that Real Madrid are unbeaten in 33 competitive matches and that only one German team has ever recorded victory in this tradition-steeped sporting arena, the Black and Yellows will still be aiming to become only the fourth German club to avoid defeat at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu – a feat they have already previously achieved, having secured a highly-deserved point in a 2-2 draw away to Real on 6 November 2012.
One shy of the record for most goals scored in a single UEFA Champions League group stage, Borussia Dortmund face their toughest assignment of the campaign when they visit Real Madrid. Should the Bundesliga outfit score at the Santiago Bernabéu, they will reach the 20-goal mark in their section, a feat managed by only three teams in the history of Europe’s top club competition: Manchester United, Barcelona and, yes, Madrid themselves.
Los Blancos are in great form right now and are firm favourites in the La Liga title race as well. They have done well in the big games recently and have beaten Atletico Madrid and held Barcelona to a 1-1 draw during their last outing.
The UEFA Champions League Group F visit of Borussia Dortmund will be 50th match in charge of Real Madrid for their coach Zinédine Zidane. He currently boasts a remarkable 79.4 win percentage in the league, his charges registering 27 victories from 34 games, drawing six and losing just one. His total of 87 points from 34 games gives him more at this stage than any other coach in the league after the same number of matches, beating prestigious names such as Muñoz (W27 D4 L3), Guardiola (W27 D4 L3) and José Mourinho (W25 D5 L4).
Head to Head
The clubs drew 2-2 in Germany on matchday two, André Schürrle hitting an 87th-minute equaliser to snatch a point for Dortmund.
Borussia Dortmund will travel to the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu for the sixth time, having previously played there in 1998, 2003, 2012, 2013 and 2014. They are yet to win as visitors against Real Madrid, though the match between the sides in November 2012 yielded a 2-2 draw. The other four matches were all lost, with one goal scored and nine conceded.
The Black and Yellows have won seven of their last ten away matches at European level but only have one victory from their 12 visits to Spain (a 1-0 win over Atlético Madrid in 1996 thanks to Stefan Reuter’s winner).
Real Madrid have won each of their last eight home games in Europe’s elite club competition, though the goals in their 2-1 win over Sporting Lisbon on Matchday 1 of the current campaign came very late on. Los Blancos’ last 32 home games in the UEFA Champions League have produced 28 victories and only one defeat. That loss, by a 4-3 scoreline against Schalke 04 in 2014/15, was also Real’s only home defeat against German opposition (11 victories, two draws, one defeat).
Match Facts
- Roman Weidenfeller is the only player still active from when the clubs squared off in the group stages of the 2002/03 edition of the competition. Real Madrid won 2-1 in the Santiago Bernabeu that year, while the teams drew 1-1 in Dortmund. Real’s current coach Zinédine Zidane played in both of those matches
- With 19 goals already scored, BVB only need one more goal to equal the record of 20 goals in the UEFA Champions League group stages. This was set by Manchester United in the 1998/99 campaign and subsequently equalled by Barcelona in 2011/12 and Real Madrid in 2013/14.
- Real are unbeaten in 33 competitive matches, with the last defeat coming in a 2-0 loss away to Wolfsburg in the 2015/16 UEFA Champions League quarter-final first leg.
- Atlético Madrid have never scored more than one goal in their five competitive games against Bayern Munich.
- In Real’s case, this is the 20th consecutive season in which they have made it to the Champions League knockout stages, a record in the competition.
- Real Madrid have won their final group game in each of their last nine Champions League campaigns.
Team News
Bayern
Real Madrid will be without injured Gareth Bale (ankle) for this match.
Atlético Madrid
Götze (knee), Bürki (hand), Guerreiro (muscle strain), Subotić (knee), Kagawa (ankle), S Bender (fitness) and Nuri Şahin (knee) will miss match against Real Madrid, while Erik Durm and Marcel Schmelzer are doubtful.
Predicted line-ups
Real Madrid: Navas; Carvajal, Ramos, Varane, Marcelo; Kovačić, Casemiro, Modrić; Vázquez, Benzema, Ronaldo
Dortmund: Weidenfeller; Ginter, Papastathopoulos, Bartra; Piszczek, Schmelzer; Weigl, Castro; Dembélé, Reus; Aubameyang.
From : Sofascore.com
