Borussia Dortmund welcome Juventus to the Westfalenstadion on Wednesday knowing that a 1-0 victory over Massimiliano Allegri's men would be enough to see them through to the quarter-final stages of the Champions League.
Juve hold a slight advantage in the two-legged encounter following a slender 2-1 victory at home to Jurgen Klopp and his charges back in late February.
The Italian side know that any form of draw would give them safe passage, with an away goal making it a little more difficult for the North Rhine-Westphalian club.
Dortmund have enjoyed an important resurgence in 2015 and have managed to lift themselves from probable relegation to a safely-placed position in the middle of the German top flight.
The Germans have slightly faltered on the domestic front in their last two Bundesliga games, with Dortmund drawing blanks in two scoreless draws against Hamburger SV and FC Koln respectively.
Juventus are currently cruising at the summit of the Serie A standings, with a monumental 14-point gap separating the Old Lady and second-placed Roma.
The Italian outfit find themselves in fairly good form, having won their last two Serie A matches by one goal against Palermo and Sassuolo, but they were also recently knocked out of the Coppa Italia by Fiorentina.
Dortmund may not be too put off by the task in hand come Wednesday, given that Juve have only managed to notch wins by a one-goal margin over the course of their last six matches.
What could appeal to Klopp even more is the fact that Allegri's men have conceded at least one goal in four of those last six fixtures, meaning that if Dortmund can defend well enough then progression will be no impossible task. Die Borussen have also kept four clean sheets in six matches across all competitions.
Dortmund are expected to be missing both Kevin Grosskreutz and Lukasz Piszczek through injury, potentially leaving Oliver Kirch and Sokratis Papastathopoulos to battle it out for a place in the right full-back position.
Nuri Sahin was also missing for the German club at the weekend and he could miss out again on Wednesday. Ciro Immobile could start up top instead of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, with Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Shinji Kagawa and Kevin Kampl providing options in midfield.
As for Juventus, Paul Pogba's league suspension at the weekend means that he should be in good shape for the clash, while both Arturo Vidal and Alvaro Morata got some form of a rest against Palermo.
Allegri may decide not to rush Andrea Pirlo back from his calf knock, especially given Roberto Pereyra's performance in the first leg in Turin.
Borussia Dortmund:
Form in Champions League: WWWLDL
Form in all competitions: WLWWDD
Possible starting lineup: Weidenfeller; Kirch, Subotic, Hummels, Schmelzer; Kehl, Gundogan; Reus, Kagawa, Mkhitaryan; Immobile
Juventus:
Form in Champions League: LLWWDW
Form in all competitions: WWDLWW
Possible starting lineup: Buffon; Bonucci, Chiellini, Lichtsteiner, Evra; Marchisio, Pereyra, Pgoba; Vidal; Morata, Tevez
Kick Off Time - 20:45HRS
This Woman Has Huge Boobs - She Makes Money Squashing Men With Them http://kenooff.visualfunnies.com/this-woman-has-huge-boobs-she-makes-money-squashing-men-with-them
ReplyDelete