As Borussia Dortmund hosts Sporting CP on Wednesday, it’s a clash of contrasting fates in domestic versus European play. Dortmund enter the match with a 3-0 lead on aggregate following a first-leg triumph in Lisbon but are languishing in 11th place in the Bundesliga. After making the Champions League final last season, Dortmund won’t be too peeved by that, but looking at the two sides, it would be expected that Sporting would be the one more likely to advance before the first leg.
Sporting are first in their league, two points ahead of Benfica, but their Champions League form has been awful. Without a big game from Viktor Gyokeres, their road could end in the playoff round despite at one time seeming like a dark horse team to make a deep run in the competition.
Here are our storylines, how you can watch the match and more:
How to watch and odds
- Date: Wednesday, Feb. 19 | Time: 12:45 p.m. ET
- Location: Signal Iduna Park — Dortmund, Germany
- Live stream: Paramount+
- Odds: Borussia Dortmund -110; Draw +260; Sporting CP +280
Storylines
Borussia Dortmund: Despite the strong first-leg performance, Dortmund can’t come into this match overconfident because defense has not been one of their strong suits this season. Sporting arguably should’ve scored at home and will come out of the gates pushing to get an early goal which could change the tie. Dortmund have allowed 38 goals in only 22 Bundesliga games so while their UCL form has been better, this is still the same team that struggles.
Borussia Dortmund predicted XI: Gregor Kobel, Daniel Svensson, Nico Schlotterbeck, Emre Can, Julian Ryerson, Marcel Sabitzer, Pascal Gross, Karim Adeyemi, Julian Brandt, Jamie Gittens, Serhou Guirassy
Sporting CP: While it’s never good to come into a match already trailing by three goals, it does take the pressure off of Sporting CP. They won’t be expected to advance further in this competition and almost all of the expectations will be on Dortmund to see this out. An early goal can change everything, causing nervousness to spread throughout Signal Iduna Park while Dortmund scoring wouldn’t do much to change the current job at hand.
Sporting CP predicted XI: Rui Silva, Matheus, Goncalo Inacio, Ousmane Diomande, Ivan Fresneda, Maxi Araujo, Trincao, Geovany Quenda, Viktor Gyokeres
Prediction
Sporting will push during the clash but with Dortmund only needing a goal to truly put this out of reach, it’s clear which team will book their place in the last 16 of the Champions League, and that’s the Germans. Pick: Borussia Dortmund 2, Sporting CP 1
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