Borussia Dortmund employed the simplest of strategies in their match against Bayern; they man marked Xabi Alonso and narrowed the field so as to render Bayern’s stars on the flank somewhat useless. The strategy worked at the beginning although Bayern missed some simple chances to take the lead. Eventually, it was Dortmund who took the lead thanks to Marco Reus. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, a constant threat on the day, charged down the right flank and sent a cross in for Reus. Reus beat both of
Bayern’s defenders to it, scoring the goal in the process.
As the match wore on though, BVB grew tired. Bayern, being the star studded team they are, introduced Franck Ribery midway through the second half. The Frenchman wreaked havoc, setting up former BVB star Robert Lewandowski for the equalizer and winning the penalty which won Bayern the game. Dortmund showed they have what it takes to scare Bayern; however, a look at the table after the game might have left BVB feeling dejected.
They sit in seventeenth after yet another defeat and must start picking up points against the smaller teams to fight off a relegation threat, no matter how minor the threat is. While nobody certainly believes Dortmund will be in a relegation fight, it is easy to forget that Schalke was involved in one such fight in the 2010-11 season when they went to the UEFA Champions League semifinals and won the DFB Pokal.
Jürgen Klopp has shown time and time again he is an astute manager against the bigger sides. However, coaches of the smaller sides have managed to outsmart him. Also, he has a much bigger set of players to choose from considering the number of players who have returned to action recently. The UEFA Champions League has provided BVB some comfort. They beat Galatasaray handily last time, 0-4. They will be coming into this one without Mats Hummels, Marcel Schmelzer, Dong-Won Ji, Nuri Sahin and Jakub Blaszczykowski. Galatasaray will be without Felipe Melo.
Borussia Dortmund's Starting XI: Weidenfeller, Subotic, Papastathopoulos, Piszczek, Durm, Kehl, Bender, Kagawa, Reus, Mkhitaryan, Aubameyang.
Galatasaray's Starting XI: Muslera, Chedjou, Hakan Balta, Semih Kaya, Tank Camdal, Felipe Melo, Hamit Altintop, Dzemaili, Selcuk Inan, Sneijder, Umut Bulut.
Borussia Dortmund's bench: Langerak, Ginter, Schmelzer, Gundogan, Grosskreutz, Immobile, Ramos.
Galatasaray's bench: Bolat, Tellez, Bruma, Oztekin, Adin, Kurtulus, Yilmaz.
Can Dortmund win this match? Interested in learning how you can watch the 2014-15 UEFA Champions League? Check out our UEFA Champions League Multi-Platform Broadcast Guide.
Match details, result and original broadcast info
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