Champions League
Conference League
Premier League
Published on Oct, 22 2024
Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund meet in a rematch of last year's UEFA Champions League final on Tuesday in this season's Champions League league phase at Santiago Bernabeu. Carlo Ancelotti's Blancos beat BVB to continental glory at Wembley less than six months ago for the Spanish giants' 15th UCL crown. Dortmund were made to pay for missed chances that day, but have started this new-look format in strong form.
Real rebounded from their defeat away at Lille OSC with wins over Villarreal and Celta Vigo either side of the October internationals. Last weekend's win saw them pull level temporarily with Barcelona at the top of La Liga ahead of El Clasico this weekend. Ancelotti and his players can only look back on their 17-month unbeaten Champions League run now, but they are unbeaten since 2022 at home in Europe.
Dortmund might be looking strong in Europe, but they have been inconsistent in the Bundesliga so far with a narrow win over St Pauli despite losing their last two away games against VfB Stuttgart and Union Berlin. BVB have faced Real seven times at Santiago Bernabeu without winning and only two of those were draws. Nuri Sahin's men could be the first UCL side to fail to win in eight attempts at a single away ground.
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Real have not looked as strong so far this season with Lille inflicting a first European defeat since May of 2023. Ancelotti's men did open their campaign with a 3-1 win over Dortmund's German rivals Stuttgart, but their current three-point haul is not good enough for a seeded knockout place. BVB will still feel the pain of last year's final loss, but a strong start to this year's edition will be helping to take their mind off of that Wembley heartbreak. Sahin's men lead the way ahead of the other teams on six points from six thanks to their strong goal difference after big wins over Celtic and Club Brugge.
Real: Kylian Mbappe made a scoring return to domestic action over the weekend against Celta Vigo, despite controversy away from the field and the French superstar is expected to feature again from the off here. Dani Carvajal, David Alaba and Brahim Diaz are all out and Ferland Mendy should come in for Fran Garcia and Rodrygo could replace Eduardo Camavinga.
Possible Real XI: Courtois; Vazquez, Militao, Rudiger, Mendy; Bellingham, Tchouameni, Valverde; Rodrygo, Mbappe, Vinicius Jr.
Dortmund: Karim Adeyemi is expected to be out until the end of November with Julien Duranville, Gio Reyna and Yan Couto also injured. Pascal Gross and Niklas Sule are both doubts so Felix Nmecha or Jamie Bynoe-Gittens should be able to fill in -- if needed.
Possible Dortmund XI: Kobel; Ryerson, Anton, Schlotterbeck, Bensebaini; Can, Sabitzer; Malen, Brandt, Gittens; Guirassy.
This one was tight earlier this year and will likely be tight again but expect Real to come out on top although both teams might score this time around given Dortmund's prolific UCL form so far. Pick: Real 2, Dortmund 1.
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