Real Madrid vs Borussia Dortmund preview

April 1, 2014
By: Nemanja Lazarevic

Dortmund vs RealReal Madrid will be keen to get revenge on the German giants for crashing out of the competition in the semi-finals last term, and this time los Blancos will be playing the first leg at home.

The Millionaires arrive at Santiago Bernabeu without a host of first team regulars, but they are not prepared to go out without a fight.

This game does not exactly come in a good time for los Merengues as back to back defeats to Barcelona and Sevilla have seriously damaged their La Liga title hopes.

Real returned to the right track with a 5-0 triumph over Rayo Vallecano, but it is easy to see that the atmosphere in the team is far from ideal.

Star player Gareth Bale responded well to the recent criticism having bagged a brace at the weekend and he is 2.40 (7/5) to score against Dortmund as well.

Having won 24 of last 26 home matches in all competitions, Real Madrid are rightly considered 1.40 (2/5) favourites to win the first leg.

Even Cristiano Ronaldo has had to endure some jeers from the stands and it remains to be seen how the Portuguese superstar will react.

Iker Casillas is likely to be recalled to the starting line-up, but Alvaro Arbeloa, Sami Khedira and Jese Rodriguez remain on the sidelines.

Probable starting line-up (4-3-3): Casillas – Carvajal, Pepe, Ramos, Marcelo – Modric, Alonso, Di Maria – Bale, Benzema, Ronaldo.

Last term Borussia Dortmund impressed everyone as they eliminated Real Madrid in the Champions League semi-finals, but this time they face a much tougher task.

The reality is the Millionaires have been struggling for form this season, which is hardly surprising when we know that they have had to endure with serious injuries to star players.

Jurgen Klopp’s charges have shown plenty of improvement of late, picking up seven points from last three league fixtures to virtually secure another Champions League qualification.

And having come from two goals behind to beat Stuttgart at the weekend, Borussia are available at 3.25 (9/4) not to lose in Madrid.

Marco Reus and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang are being tipped to replace star striker Robert Lewandowski, who misses the clash at Santiago Bernabeu through suspension.

Meanwhile, Sven Bender, Ilkay Gundogan, Neven Subotic, Marcel Schmelzer and Jakub Blaszczykowski are all out injured.

Probable starting line-up (4-2-3-1): Weidenfeller – Piszczek, Papastathopoulos, Hummels, Durm – Kehl, Sahin – Grosskreutz, Mkhitaryan, Reus – Aubameyang.

We Highly Recommend These Places
Share your Opinion!