It’s been five months since Real Madrid broke Borussia Dortmund’s heart at Wembley Stadium in the 2023-2024 Champions League final and lifted their record-breaking 15th European title. Once again, the two teams are set to face off against each other tonight when Real Madrid welcome Borussia Dortmund at Santiago Bernabeu to play their third game in the League Phase of the UCL.
Borussia Dortmund has made a strong start to the new campaign, securing back-to-back wins that take them to the top of the table. Meanwhile, Real Madrid started their mission with a win but suffered a shock defeat in their following game against LOSC Lille. Therefore, tonight’s match is a very important for the Ancelotti boys to qualify directly to the last 16.
Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti said, “We have a lot of options in attack, but we’re working on being more compact defensively. We’re not conceding many goals, but our opponents are getting a lot of chances to score. When we are solid and compact we have a good chance of winning games as sooner or later we’ll have chances to score.”
Stats & Facts
- Since winning the Champions League final at Wembley last season, it will be the first meeting between Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund.
- Real Madrid have never lost a single match in their last seven home games in the Champions League against Borussia Dortmund, winning five and tying the remaining two games.
- Borussia Dortmund have played seven games without a win at Santiago Bernabeu. No other teams played more games at a single stadium without a win than Borussia Dortmund.
- As Real Madrid lost their last game in the UCL, a defeat against Borussia Dortmund would see them losing consecutive games for the first time since 2019 in the Champions League.
Team News
Star boy Kylian Mbappe has recovered from a muscle injury and is available for the selection tonight. But the Los Blancos are still missing Dani Carvajal, David Alaba, and Brahim Diaz due to their respective injuries.
As for Borussia Dortmund, they will be without Julien Duranville, Giovanni Reyna, and Yan Couto due to injuries. Adeyemi, who scored a heroic hattrick against Celtic, picked up a severe hamstring injury during the second half and will be out of the squad for at least two months. Meanwhile, Pascal Gross and Niklas Sule are in doubt ahead of tonight’s game.
Possible Lineup for Real Madrid:
Courtois; Vazquez, Militao, Rudiger, Mendy; Bellingham, Tchouameni, Valverde; Rodrygo, Mbappe, Vinicius Jr
Possible Lineup for Borussia Dortmund:
Kobel; Ryerson, Anton, Schlotterbeck, Bensebaini; Can, Sabitzer; Malen, Brandt, Gittens; Guirassy
Prediction: Real Madrid 2-1 Borussia Dortmund
Although Borussia Dortmund made a strong start to the new format of the UEFA Champions League, they have suffered defeats against teams like Union Berlin and VfB Stuttgart.
Meanwhile, Real Madrid are unstoppable in the Champions League at Santiago Bernabeu. We expect an intense match between Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund, but Real Madrid have a better chance to win the game.
Betfair Odds
Real Madrid: 1.51
Draw: 4.89
Dortmund: 6.13
Visit BFB247 to get real-time Betfair Odds and an exclusive 2.5% commission on winning bets!
