Barcelona – Borussia Dortmund

Barcelona hosts Borussia Dortmund at the Camp Nou in one of the most interesting games in the Champions League on Wednesday. This group can still offer some surprising results, so let’s take a look.

Despite of their dissapointing draw against Slavia Praha at the Camp Nou, Barca continue to lead the group with 8 points won. Borussia Dortmund follow on second place with 7, while Inter Milan are third with 4. But they still have some theoretical chance to progress.

Nobody expected that Barcelona could make a mistake against a team like Slavia Praha at home. But for 90 minutes the Catalans didn’t find a way to score a goal, so the game ended with a 0-0 draw. After the halftime break Ernesto Valverde tried to change something, picking Ivan Rakitic and Ansu Fati from the bench, but the Czech side defended well until the end.

Against Borussia Dortmund Barcelona are in a real need of a win in order to feel more confident about their progression to the 1/8-finals. In same time the team continues to perform average under the management of the head coach Ernesto Valverde.

Borussia Dortmund are second in the group with 7 points, so a win at the Camp Nou would allow them to overtake Los Cules and lead the standings. The first game between these two teams at the Signal Iduna Park ended with a 0-0 draw, but Dortmund had the better chances to score. The best one was the penalty kick which Marco Reus failed to convert.

In the previous round the German team made a solid performance against Inter Milan at home. Dortmund were 0-2 behind, but after the break they scored three goals and won it with 3-2. Achraf Hakimi scored a brace, while Julian Brandt also managed to beat Samir Handanovic.

This game at the Camp Nou is crucial for both Barcelona and Borussia Dortmund. Just two rounds before the end of the group stage of the Champions League, one of these two teams can make a great step towards the knockout phase.