Real Madrid search for morale-boosting win as Borussia Dortmund look to build on their momentum.
A rematch of the 2023-24 Champions League final, holders, Real Madrid, and hopefuls, Borussia Dortmund, renew hostilities in today’s league phase encounter at the Bernabeu.
It has been almost five months since Carlo Ancelotti’s men broke BVB hearts to win European Cup number 15, as the German giants were left to lament missed chance after missed chance at Wembley.
Always possessing the formula for Champions League success, no matter how tough the going gets, Real Madrid conquered the continent for the 15th time last season, when Dortmund failed to make their dominance pay before being hit with two second-half sucker punches.
However, Los Blancos’ powers have waned ever so slightly this term, as on matchday two of the 2024-25 edition, they were consigned to their first loss in Europe’s premier competition since May 2023, when a Jonathan David strike earned Lille a famous 1-0 victory.
The reigning champions had at least got the better of Dortmund’s Bundesliga rivals Stuttgart 3-1 in their opening match of the tournament, but their three-point haul is currently not even good enough for a seeded knockout place; they sit 17th in the 36-team table at this fledgling stage.
Ancelotti’s men have come up with the required responses to that shock setback against Les Dogues, though, defeating Villarreal and Celta Vigo in La Liga either side of the international break; the latter triumph saw them temporarily move level on points with leaders Barcelona whom they face in El Clasico at the weekend at the top of the table.
Los Blancos’ 17-month unbeaten sequence in the Champions League may now be a thing of the past, but not since April 2022 have they lost a top-level European home match, although they have failed to keep a clean sheet in their last five continental clashes at the Bernabeu.
If only Dortmund had displayed similar levels of ruthlessness against Real Madrid as they did against Celtic earlier this month, BVB may have been heading to the Spanish capital this week with Champions League medals around their necks, as Nuri Sahin’s men were in seventh heaven against Brendan Rodgers’s troops.
Dortmund’s European excellence has come in contrast to their mixed domestic results; the visitors just about managed to scrape a nervy 2-1 win over St Pauli at the weekend, but they have lost their last two away games in the Bundesliga to Stuttgart (5-1) and Union Berlin (2-1).
An unwanted road record could now be set by Dortmund in the Champions League, as they have visited the Bernabeu seven times without ever managing to win, losing five times and drawing twice; no side has failed to triumph in their first eight Champions League games at a single away venue.
One change to the Blancos’ starting XI may come on the opposite side of defence, where Ferland Mendy should replace Fran Garcia, while Rodrygo will also be eyeing a return to the XI, potentially in Eduardo Camavinga’s place. —Sportsmole