In a dramatic repeat of last season's clash, Borussia
Dortmund will face the domineering Real Madrid at the Bernabeu on
Wednesday.
Real Madrid will be looking to avenge their loss from last season and
with Los Blancos looking to be in top form, it is very likely they
will.
When the sides met last season, striker Robert Lewandowski inspired
Dortmund to a suspenseful 4-1 win at home and then progressed to the
final despite losing 2-0 at home.
This season might be a different story, though. Lewandowski will be
sitting out the first leg of this tie-up because of a one-match ban. The
Polish international has expressed his disappointment with having to
watch from the sidelines, but says he will be ready for the second leg.
Jurgen Klopp's side just about made it into the last eight with a 5-4
aggregate win against Russian side Zenit. On the other hand, Real
Madrid cruised through their tie-up with Schalke, who are Dortmund's
rivals, with a 9-2 win on aggregate.
Real have a team good enough to win this competition and they also have the reason - their 10th European Cup.
Carlo Ancelotti has called on the Real fans to inspire the team against a strong German side this Wednesday.
"On Wednesday we'll have a great atmosphere at the Bernabeu bcause everyone is dreaming of the Decima," he explained.
"They know we can win if everyone gets behind the team. Together we can achieve the dream."
Real will go into this week's clash with a weekend win of 5-0 against
Rayo Vallecano whereas Dortmund have secured a simple 3-3 draw against
an impressive Hoffenheim side.
Cristiano Ronaldo managed to score his 44th goal of the season in all
competitions this weekend and is currently the leading goalscorer in
the Champions League this season. Combined with Gareth Bale and Karim
Benzema, both of whom have been in good form lately, Los Blancos could
pose a very real threat to Dortmund this time around.
Also in Real's favor is the long list of injuries on Dortmund's side.
Neven Subotic, Jakub Blaszczykowski, Marcel Schmelzer and Sven Bender
will all forgo the trip to Madrid.

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