Here’s our preview for the clash of Dortmund and Atalanta in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League’s preliminary knockout round.
| Photo: Stuart Franklin/Getty Images. |
Borussia Dortmund resume UEFA Champions League duties tomorrow as they host Atalanta Bergamo at 21:00 CET – The winner over the two-legged tie will advance to the Round of 16 and face either Bayern Munich or Arsenal.
BVB, despite their woes in the latter half of the competition’s league phase, have been in rich form domestically. Friday night’s 4-0 win over Mainz inspired by Julian Ryerson’s quartet of assists will keep the spirits raised.
All in all, the Westphalians have emerged with six Bundesliga wins in their last six. They also encountered this stage of the Champions League last season, inflicting a 3-0 defeat on Sporting Lisbon over two legs to progress.
As for their opponents from Italy, they endured their fair share of ups and downs in the league phase. While only netting 10 goals in 8 games, defence proved to be their strong point which also only leaked 10 in total.
Since the appointment of Raffaele Palladino in November, Atalanta have gone on to only lose 5 of their last 20 games in all competitions. As a result, it’s expected this tie with BVB could go down to the wire given both sides’ form.
The last time these clubs met was during the 2017-18 Europa League’s round of 32. After a narrow 3-2 win at home and a 1-1 stalemate in Bergamo, a Dortmund side under the tutelage of Peter Stöger advanced 4-3 on aggregate.
Team news and predicted lineups:
Dortmund: Niko Kovač will have to do without Emre Can (adductor pain) and Filippo Mane (fitness). Now, concerns over Nico Schlotterbeck (muscular problems) and Niklas Süle (hamstring) means it will be touch and go for both.
Atalanta: As for Atalanta, they will likely be without both Giacomo Raspadori (muscle strain) who is set to return in March, while Charles de Ketelaere (meniscus injury) is also a major doubt having missed their last two games.
Click here to see our predicted lineups for Borussia Dortmund vs. Atalanta Bergamo.
