Borussia Dortmund vs Barcelona Preview

After back-to-back draws in the Bundesliga, Borussia Dortmund will look for some reprieve in the Champions League when they welcome Barcelona to Signal Iduna Park.

Dortmund have had an inconsistent Bundesliga campaign with their most recent outing—a 1-1 draw with Borussia Monchengladbach—representing the third time they have dropped points in the league in the last four outings (W1, D2, L1). As such, they sit sixth in the league, eight points behind league leaders Bayern Munich and four behind the automatic Champions League qualification spot.

However, the hosts have been great in the Champions League so far. Four wins from five league phase games in this season’s Champions League has Borussia Dortmund sat in the automatic qualification spots for the last 16. Still, they certainly can’t rest easy as they have a cluster of eight sides now within just two points of them. Therefore, this clash with Barcelona, who sit just above them, could be key in deciding their fate.

The Catalan giants certainly aren’t an ideal opponent for Dortmund as they’ve never won a H2H before against Barcelona (D2, L2). There should be hope of that happening at home, where they’re unbeaten this season across all competitions (W8, D1). However, Dortmund may need to have their shooting boots on to do so considering they haven’t kept a clean sheet in any of their last nine Champions League games against Spanish sides.

Meanwhile, Barcelona travel to Germany in indifferent form. The Catalan club have won just two of their last six games in all competitions (D2, L2). A 2-2 draw away to Real Betis at the weekend saw Hansi Flick’s side twice squander the lead, but the German boss admitted afterwards that perhaps owed to the fact his side had half an eye on this huge clash.

Still, it wouldn’t be a huge surprise to see a response from the La Liga title challengers here, not least because Flick boasts a perfect personal managerial record against Dortmund (W5). Both away wins in that run came by slender one-goal margins. However, when Barça win on the road, it tends to be more emphatic, with each of their last six away victories in all competitions coming by a 3+ goal margin.