Needing to serve Barcelona a taste of their own remontada medicine to stay alive in the Champions League, Borussia Dortmund host the Catalan giants in Tuesday’s quarter-final second leg at Signal Iduna Park.
The Bundesliga outfit were slaughtered 4-0 by Hansi Flick‘s side in the opening encounter last week, as La Blaugrana put one foot firmly in a semi-final showdown with either Inter Milan or Bayern Munich.
Match preview
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The Lionel Messi–Neymar–Luis Suarez front three at Barcelona may forever be remembered as one of the most fearsome attacking trios in history, but Raphinha, Lamine Yamal and Robert Lewandowski sure are giving the terrifying trio a brilliant run for their money in that regard.
All three of Flick’s prolific attackers were on song in last week’s first leg, where Lewandowski struck twice against his old team either side of strikes from Raphinha and Yamal, the former of whom matched Messi’s club record for the most goal involvements in a single Champions League season (19).
As Barcelona fans celebrated, the Dortmund faithful likely mourned their dreams of going one better in this season’s Champions League than they did in 2023-24, as on the previous 159 occasions where a team has lost the first leg of a UCL knockout game by four goals or more, that team has been dumped out 158 times.
Only Barcelona themselves (against Paris Saint-Germain in 2017) have ever completed such an astounding comeback, and Dortmund’s chronic inconsistency throughout a troubled 2024-25 campaign makes it nigh on impossible to envisage Niko Kovac‘s side repeating the Catalans’ trick on Tuesday.
BVB at least left with their pride in tact from Saturday’s Bundesliga Klassiker against Bayern Munich, holding the league leaders to a praiseworthy 2-2 draw at the Allianz Arena, but they can only boast a measly three victories from their last 12 matches at the Signal Iduna Park, where the walls have come crumbling down.
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That miserable home sequence for Borussia Dortmund actually includes a 3-2 beating at the hands of Barcelona in the league phase, a result that has contributed to La Blaugrana’s six-game unbeaten run against the German giants in European competition.
Only against Rangers (seven from 1996 to 1999) have Dortmund endured a longer streak without victory on the continent, but from miserable streaks to momentous ones, Barcelona are currently enjoying their longest-ever unbeaten run at the start of a calendar year.
Saturday’s 1-0 La Liga victory over Leganes means that La Blaugrana have not lost any of their 24 games in 2025 so far, and Flick remains on course to complete a spectacular quadruple with the Blaugrana, who are out of sight at the top of the La Liga table, face Real Madrid in the Copa del Rey final on April 26 and have already won the Supercopa de Espana.
To further whet Barcelona fans’ appetite, their side are searching for an outstanding ninth away win in a row at the Signal Iduna Park, and Flick’s men have avoided defeat in each of their last 16 road games, last going down to Real Sociedad on November 10.
With two wins over Dortmund and a 4-1 thrashing of Bayern to their name this season, Barca have won each of their last three UCL games against German teams after losing their previous five before that, signalling a shift in the balance of power as Flick’s side aim to live up to their favourites tag.
Team News
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Borussia Dortmund had to make do without Pascal Gross in the first leg due to suspension, but the former Brighton & Hove Albion man is fine to take his place in the engine room on Tuesday, just as he did in Der Klassiker.
Kovac will still be unable to call upon knee injury victims Marcel Sabitzer and Nico Schlotterbeck – the latter of whom will be out for months – but the BVB boss otherwise has a full set of options available to him.
Kovac has trialled a three-man defence in recent weeks, but as his side need a glut of goals to stand any chance of progression, a tried-and-tested 4-2-3-1 may be the way to go on Tuesday as Niklas Sule drops out.
On Barcelona’s side, the visitors’ success over Leganes at the weekend was not without sacrifice, as left-back Alejandro Balde sustained a hamstring injury that is expected to keep him sidelined until the end of the month.
Gerard Martin is a like-for-like replacement for his compatriot and should be given the nod in defence at the Signal Iduna Park, where Marc Bernal (knee), Marc-Andre ter Stegen (knee) and Marc Casado (knee) will also take their place on the sidelines.
Dani Olmo‘s adductor problem is not expected to heal in time either, so Fermin Lopez – who set up Lewandowski’s second in the first leg – should pip Gavi to a starting role in the number 10 spot again.
Borussia Dortmund possible starting lineup:
Kobel; Ryerson, Can, Anton, Bensebaini; Gross, Nmecha; Gittens, Brandt, Adeyemi; Guirassy
Barcelona possible starting lineup:
Szczesny; Kounde, Araujo, Cubarsi, Martin; Pedri, De Jong; Yamal, Lopez, Raphinha; Lewandowski
We say: Borussia Dortmund 2-3 Barcelona (Barcelona win 7-2 on aggregate)
How Dortmund approach Tuesday’s fixture will be fascinating, as the German giants are practically down and out and have serious work to do in the Bundesliga, but nothing is over until it is over in the Champions League.
Last year’s runners-up have our vote to get a couple of goals back, but Barcelona’s phenomenal attack should have the final say as Flick’s side stroll into the semi-finals without too much fuss.
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