Borussia Dortmund’s injury problems have besieged them and
their season has been falling apart in Germany but being out of the running in
Germany helped them focus on the champions league last year and they can make
the most over two legs of a favourable draw in the last 16 to reach the quarter
finals once again.
Zenit St Petersburg’s big spending hasn’t bought them the
European success that they’ve been craving and while they have reached the last
16 this season it was with only 6 group stage points. Admittedly they did beat
Porto for a slot in the last 16 although that outfit had not been in the same
shape as recent years and their place in the last 16 is mainly down to the
failures of Porto and low ranking Australia Vienna to take advantage of eachother’s
mistakes and while they were unbeaten at home, their 1-1 draw against Aletico
Madrid owes a lot to the Spaniards having finished dealing with the opposition a
long time before they visited and sending a second string side to the Pavlosk
Stadium. In 1-1 draws against Porto and Austria Vienna their lack of cutting
edge failed them despite a talented team in a technical sense and their defence
could be their weak link against Borussia Dortmund today.
Dortmund were beaten 3-0 by Hannover at the weekend, one of
many occasions recently where their very own pate of defensive injures has cost
them dearly, but their frontline has still remained intact and they still have
as much firepower as anyone in Europe. Before the weekend they had scored 11
goals in winning their previous three league games the time beforehand and in a
fast and fluid frontline headed by Robert Lewandowski with the likes of Marco
Reus to name just some in behind has the talent to notch at least once and they
are good enough to take a lead back to Germany. Dortmund won at Arsenal in the
group stages and barring Real Madrid’s 2-0 win in the semi final second leg,
they were unbeaten on their travels before the final.
Advice
3 pts Dortmund (8/11 general)
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