Champions League: It’s the 2024 Final Rematch

Real Madrid vs Borussia Dortmund

Carlo Ancelotti’s Real Madrid host Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League on Tuesday in the European clash of the week.   

After two rounds of the new competition format, Nuri Sahin’s Dortmund sit proudly at the top of the table with two wins and a whopping goal difference of +9.

With one win and one defeat, Los Blancos are down in 17^th, but these are very early days, and Ancelotti’s team are the second favourites behind Manchester City to win the competition at SBOTOP odds of 4.30, while BVB are priced at 26.00, in ninth position.  

This game has more spice or course, as this is a replay of the 2024 final which Los Blancos won 2-0.  The Bundesliga club’s fans protested at their last Champions League game, a 7-1 win over Celtic, with a fair point that UEFA seem to be more interested in making money than looking after player welfare and the fans’ pockets.

But this fixture is what European football is all about, two top clubs with an intense rivalry battling it out under the floodlights.

Both teams come into the game on the back of a 2-1 domestic victory, Madrid away to Celta Vigo on Saturday while Dortmund had a Friday home win against St. Pauli.

And the Germans would love nothing more than to prolong Madrid’s patchy start and get a small taste of sweet revenge.     

 

Talking Points

Mbappe and Vinicius are starting to click  

A loss to Lille in the last round means Los Blancos have a little catching up to do, though there is little doubt Ancelotti’s men will make it through to the knockouts.

And while the pressure is not too intense at this stage, Madrid also have the comfort that their summer marquee signing Kylian Mbappe has found his feet very quickly, just as Jude Bellingham did last term. 

The France captain looked in good nick in Real Madrid’s victory over Celta Vigo, scoring a long-range screamer on 20 minutes to make it six goals for the season already, with only Barcelona’s Robert Lewandowski scoring more.

And, after Williot Swedberg had equalised for the hosts, Vinicius Jr. scored the winner, latching on to a through ball from the evergreen Luka Modric before rounding the keeper and sliding the ball home.

The Brazilian ace has now scored five league goals and made four assists and, with these two in great form alongside Bellingham, Federico Valverde, and Rodrygo, BVB’s centre-back pairing of Waldemar Anton and Nico Schlotterbeck will need the game of their lives to keep Madrid’s Galacticos at bay.

 

Guirassy at home in Dortmund

Dortmund too have a summer signing in hot form, and Serhou Guirassy was the man on hand to give his team a crucial win against St. Pauli to keep them in touch with the leaders and in sixth place in the Bundesliga.

Algerian star Ramy Bensebaini gave BVB the lead with his first goal for the club, but the underdogs pegged their hosts back when Eric Smith hit a howitzer past Gregor Kobel with less than a quarter of an hour remaining.

But Dortmund scored five minutes later when substitute Jamie Bynoe-Gittens beat his man and swung in a perfect cross for Guirassy to head home for his fourth of the season.

The result means BVB remain unbeaten in their last 38 Friday night games at home, dating back to 2004. And now they need to follow that up with a big performance on the road.

The Champions League 2024 betting odds firmly back a home win, but Die Schwarzgelben absolutely rinsed Celtic in their last Champions League game, and they will arrive in Spain with plenty of confidence.

 

History

With seven wins to three, the Spaniards have had the better of the head-to-heads, including the last three meetings and, of course, that June final at Wembley Stadium.

Recent form is fairly even as both teams come into the game with four wins in their last six outings. The Germans lost two, while the La Liga giants have lost one and drawn one.

But the most ominous statistic of all is that Los Blancos are 38 games unbeaten at the Santiago Bernabeu.         

 

Betting Tip

Real Madrid are priced at 1.42 to win this match, with Dortmund at 5.13, and the draw is at 4.35. Meanwhile, the Double Chance: Dortmund or Draw is available at 2.43.

It will be a tough night for the Germans, but both teams have strikers in superb form and creative players ready to provide the Champions League 2024 highlights, so I’m hoping for plenty of goals.   

   

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