Borussia Dortmund can secure a place in the knockout stages of the 2022/23 Champions League on Tuesday night with a win against Manchester City. Erling Haaland returns to the Signal Iduna Park for the first time since leaving the Bundesliga club in the summer. Just like his goodbye, the goal-machine is likely to get a warm reception after breaking goalscoring records during his short time at the club, netting 86 goals and created 23 in 89 games across all competitions.
Heading into the game against Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City, Edin Terzic will be without Salih Özcan after he picked up three yellow cards, suspending the defensive-midfielder for one game. Marco Reus also faces a late fitness test but is unlikely to start. Terzic has been given a boost in the final third though as Gio Reyna states that he’s ready to feature against Manchester City.
Dortmund are coming into tonight’s game on the back of successive wins against Hannover in the DFB Pokal and Stuttgart on Saturday afternoon. Jude Bellingham scored a brace and earned praise from Terzic in his pre-match press conference, commending the England international after taking on a new role at the club.
“I think he’s the oldest 19-year-old I’ve ever seen. Not only do we benefit from him but BVB is also the right step for him. Jude will have a big impact not only with us but also with the England national team,” said Terzic.
Niklas Süle, Youssoufa Moukoko and Reyna also scored in BVB’s 5-0 win against Stuttgart. A huge improvement from their prior Bundesliga game after losing 2-0 to leaders Union Berlin.
The last three Champions League meetings between Borussia Dortmund and Manchester City have all finished 2-1 in favour of Guardiola’s side. In truth, BVB’s performances against the Premier League club are a lot closer than you would expect them to be. It’s obvious, but if Dortmund are to come out of this with three points, they have to find a way of stopping Haaland, who has already scored 22 goals in 15 games for Manchester City this season.
As per Kicker, Borussia Dortmund are expected to start with a back four of Marius Wolf, Niklas Süle, Mats Hummels and Raphael Guerreiro. Emre Can and Jude Bellingham will operate as a midfield pivot with Karim Adeyemi, Julian Brandt, Donyell Malen and Youssoufa Moukoko in the final third.
GGFN | Daniel Pinder
About Author
