On Tuesday, the UEFA Champions League group stage matches return - today, the second round matches of groups E-H will be played.
An intriguing clash is expected in Dortmund, where the local "Borussia" will host Madrid's "Real" footballers. The matches between these teams are always beautiful - lots of goals and attacking football.
Season start
Both teams started the Champions League tournament differently - "Real" easily dealt with Nicosia's APOEL, while "Borussia" had to admit the superiority of the "Tottenham" team in London.
Meanwhile, in the local championship, BVB players compete much more confidently, as they have not experienced a single failure yet - five wins and one draw. The excellent start of the team is reflected in the tournament table - they are in the first position.
It is much more difficult for the defending champions of the Spanish championship, "Real" - Zinedine Zidane's students have already failed to win in three matches and even had to accept defeat once. The "white" team is already 7 points behind the leaders.
Over the weekend, both teams celebrated victories - "Borussia" defeated "Gladbach" players with a score of 6-1, while "Real" had difficulties with the league outsiders "Alaves" - they won by a score of 2-1.
Team news
Both teams have some absences. "Borussia" will have to play without Andre Schurrle, Marcelo Schmelzer, Raphael Guerreiro, Eric Durm, Sebastian Rode, and Marco Reus in these matches.
"Real" also has important absences - both Marcelo and Theo Hernandez will not be able to play on the left side of defense. Today we will also not see Karim Benzema and Mateo Kovacic, but Toni Kroos returns to the lineup.
Predicted starting lineup:
"Borussia": Bürki, Piszczek, Sokratis, Bartra, Toprak, Sahin, Castro, Götze, Yarmolenko, Aubameyang, Philipp.
"Real Madrid": Navas, Carvajal, Varane, Ramos, Nacho, Casemiro, Luka Modric, Toni Kroos, Isco, Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale.
Interesting facts
Prior to last season, when the teams played in Germany, BVB had achieved four wins out of as many possible against "Real" in their home stadium.
"Borussia" fought for seven points in the group stage last season - they defeated Lisbon's "Sporting" and demolished Warsaw's "Legia" in the highest-scoring Champions League match in history (8-4).
The last visit of "Real" to Germany brings back good memories - in last season's quarter-final match, the "whites" defeated Munich's "Bayern" with a score of 2-1.
However, the overall statistics of visits to Germany are not in favor of the Spanish capital team - 19 losses, 5 wins, and 7 draws.
"Real" has never failed to reach at least the quarter-finals in the 21 seasons of the UEFA Champions League - the royal club always overcomes at least the group stage.
The current European champions have been behind the "Borussia" team in the Champions League group stage in both last season and the 2012-13 season.
For the biggest star of the Madrid team, Cristiano Ronaldo, this will be his 150th match in the Champions League.
