Borussia Dortmund are having a poor season by their high standards, sitting eighth in the Bundesliga. The Champions League is now their only shot of winning a trophy this season, but they face an in-form Barcelona side riding high at the top of La Liga. Indeed, Barca are still gunning for the quadruple, having already won the Spanish Super Cup. They progressed to the final of the Copa del Rey last week.
The Catalan outfit may have dropped points in a 1-1 draw against Real Betis at the weekend, but closest rivals Real Madrid lost against Valencia. This saw Barcelona extend their lead at the summit of the Spanish top flight to four points.
They were also second only to Liverpool in the group stage of the Champions League while Dortmund were down in 10th. This makes them understandable favourites to lift the Champions League trophy.
In the last-16, Barcelona cruised past Benfica, securing a 4-1 aggregate win. Dortmund, meanwhile, faced a tougher challenge against Lille but a 2-1 away win saw them progress 3-2 overall.
All signs, therefore, point to a Barca win but Dortmund can be a tricky side to face.
BARCELONA VS BORUSSIA DORTMUND PREVIEW
The two sides have faced each other on five previous occasions and Dortmund have never won. Barcelona have won three times, while there have been two draws.
In the group stage earlier this season, Barcelona secured a 3-2 win at Signal Iduna Park. It was a back-and-forth affair with Dortmund twice coming from behind before Ferran Torres scored the winning goal five minutes from time. He had netted earlier in the game too, with Raphinha scoring the opener. Serhou Guirassy scored both of Dortmund’s goals.
Barcelona’s Dani Olmo has a groin issue and is likely to miss this game. Inigo Martinez is also a doubt. Marc Bernal, Marc Casado and Marc-André ter Stegen all have knee problems and won’t feature.
Raphinha didn’t feature against Real Betis and will likely return in attack alongside Lamine Yamal and former Dortmund man Robert Lewandowski.
Centre-back Nico Schlotterbeck is out for Borussia Dortmund. He was suspended for their 4-1 win over Freiburg and now has a knee injury that will rule him out for the rest of the season.
Pascal Gross is suspended, while Marcel Sabitzer and Filippo Mané are both injured.
If Felix Nmecha is fit enough, he could play alongside Julian Brandt, but Salih Özcan is a possibility too.
BARCELONA VS BORUSSIA DORTMUND – PREDICTIONS
Barcelona Win
Unbeaten in 22 games and undefeated against Dortmund, all signs point to a Barcelona win. They will have home advantage here too, but Dortmund go into this game off the back of an impressive 4-1 win at Freiburg at the weekend. Despite this, Dortmund have only won three of their last 20 trips to Spain. Barca boss Hansi Flick’s record as manager against Dortmund is impressive too. He has won six games out of six in charge of Barcelona or Bayern Munich. His teams have averaged three goals a game in this spell.
Draw
There was only one goal in it when Dortmund were defeated by Barcelona back in December, while the two sides have had two draws in their five encounters so far. Barca were held at home against Real Betis on Saturday and Dortmund are a far superior side to them.
Borussia Dortmund Win
Dortmund won their last away game in the Champions League, 2-1 at Lille, as well as their last Bundesliga game on the road against Freiburg. Their away from is currently quite strong, having won three of their last four games on their travels in all competitions. Conversely, Barcelona have not reached the semi-finals of the Champions League since 2019 and could bottle it here. Furthermore, Dortmund’s only knockout defeat in the last eight games in this competition was in last year’s Champions League final, which they lost 2-0 to Real Madrid.
BARCELONA VS BORUSSIA DORTMUND – BETTING TIPS
Barcelona Win
It’s difficult to look beyond Barcelona considering the current form of both teams. Added to the mix is that Barcelona are at home and Dortmund’s poor record in Spain. Barcelona have also won five of their last six Champions League games, compared to Dortmund’s three. Barcelona’s overall form of five wins and a draw in their last six games contrasts sharply with Dortmund’s three wins, one draw and two defeats.
Both Teams To Score
Dortmund have scored in every one of their last 11 away matches in the Champions League and both teams scored in both legs of their last-16 match against Lille. In Dortmund’s last two Bundesliga games, both teams scored too. Barcelona are a machine, having scored 83 La Liga goals this season and four against Benfica in their last-16 clashes. The last time Barcelona failed to score in any match was 15 December, a 1-0 defeat against Leganes. Both teams scoring looks likely here.
Ferran Torres To Score
While Raphinha is the top scorer in the Champions League this season with 11, Torres is the man in form. He scored twice against Dortmund earlier in the campaign and set up Gavi for Barcelona’s only goal against Real Betis on Saturday. Before this game, he had scored five in his previous four appearances, including a brace against Atletico Madrid in La Liga. He also netted the winner against the same opposition in the Copa del Rey.
HEAD-TO-HEAD AND KEY STATS
- Barcelona and Borussia Dortmund have played each other five times, with Barca winning three. There have been two draws.
- Barcelona are unbeaten in 22 games in all competitions, winning 18 of them.
- Current Barcelona manager Hansi Flick has won all six meetings against Dortmund when he has been in the dugout (either for Barca or previous club Bayern Munich).
- Borussia Dortmund have only won three of their last 20 European away games in Spain.
- Borussia Dortmund have scored in each of their last 11 away matches in the Champions League.
