Date: Wednesday, 2 March Venue: Santiago Bernabeu Kick-Off: 19:45
Team News
Real Madrid are without left-back Marcelo but will not use Gareth Bale as cover for the position, where he has previously played in the past during his time in England. Instead, the Spanish giants will use Fabio Coentrao as a replacement for the injured Brazilian. Borussia Dortmund are without star striker Robert Lewandowski, who misses the trip to the Spanish capital due to suspension. Pierre-Emerick Aubemeyang is expected to replace the Pole striker up front. The Germans are also without five players due to injury, as they will have to cope without Neven Subotic, Marcel Schmelzer, Ilkay Gundogan, Sven Bender and Jakub Blaszczykowski.
Key Stats
The two sides met four times in the Champions League last season and Real Madrid only picked up one victory, as Dortmund reached the final where they were defeated by Bayern Munich. In those meetings, 14 goals were scored- five of which were in the first-leg of last year's semi final. Welshman Gareth Bale scored a brace at the weekend as Real bounced back from two consecutive league defeats, taking his tally to 16 goals in his debut season in Spanish football. The absence of Robert Lewandowski will hit the Germans hard as he has scored five goals in his four Champions League appearances against Real Madrid and six goals in the tournament so far this season.
Likely Line-Ups
Real Madrid Casillas, Carvajal, Ramos, Pepe, Marcelo, Di Maria, Alonso, Modric, Bale, Ronaldo, Benzema Borussia Dortmund Weidenfeller, Piszczek, Hummels, Sokratis, Durm, Sahin, Kehl, Aubameyang, Mkhitaryan, Grobkreutz, Reus
Match Preview
After blowing away Schalke in the previous round of the Champions League, Real Madrid struggled in their domestic campaign as they lost consecutive league games to Barcelona and Sevilla. However, their European form is as good as ever. The difficulty for Real Madrid is that due to a thrilling title race that has seen them battling with Barcelona and Athletico Madrid for the title, Ancelotti has been unable to rest players- which means that there's a risk his side will suffer from a burn-out. Dortmund, on the other hand, have been chasing shadows in their domestic campaign all season and Bayern Munich have already secured the title. They caused Real Madrid lots of problems last year but only Weidenfeller and Reus survive from the team that played in the semi-final of last year's competition, as transfers, injuries and suspensions have taken their toll. Robert Lewandowski has scored five goals in his four Champions League appearances against Real, which provides Dortmund with a clear problem without the star-striker leading their front line. While they do have the likes of Reus and Aubameyang, neither of the two provide the same threat. After seeing fellow German side Schalke completely annihilated at the hands of the Spaniards in the last round, Dortmund will be wary of the threat that they face this evening- particularly from Madrid's BBC strike force. However, it is likely to be a case of damage limitation for the visitors and they will pray they are still in the game come the second-leg. Prediction 2-0 source - bbc football
Josh has had work featured in the Evening Gazette and on Newcastle United website. He is a Multimedia Journalism student at Teesside University and runs a successful sports blog. He also enjoys films, comics and TV, writing about anything he can. Josh has recently started writing his first of what he hopes will be many books.
