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Match preview: Borussia Dortmund look to secure Europa League qualification

By Alex Orillac

Dortmund's Ukrainian forward Andriy Yarmolenko celebrates during the German First division Bundesliga football match Bayer Leverkusen vs Borussia Dortmund on December 2, 2017 in Leverkusen, western Germany. / AFP PHOTO / PATRIK STOLLARZ / RESTRICTIONS: DURING MATCH TIME: DFL RULES TO LIMIT THE ONLINE USAGE TO 15 PICTURES PER MATCH AND FORBID IMAGE SEQUENCES TO SIMULATE VIDEO. == RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE == FOR FURTHER QUERIES PLEASE CONTACT DFL DIRECTLY AT 49 69 650050 (Photo credit should read PATRIK STOLLARZ/AFP/Getty Images)
Dortmund's Ukrainian forward Andriy Yarmolenko celebrates during the German First division Bundesliga football match Bayer Leverkusen vs Borussia Dortmund on December 2, 2017 in Leverkusen, western Germany. / AFP PHOTO / PATRIK STOLLARZ / RESTRICTIONS: DURING MATCH TIME: DFL RULES TO LIMIT THE ONLINE USAGE TO 15 PICTURES PER MATCH AND FORBID IMAGE SEQUENCES TO SIMULATE VIDEO. == RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE == FOR FURTHER QUERIES PLEASE CONTACT DFL DIRECTLY AT 49 69 650050 (Photo credit should read PATRIK STOLLARZ/AFP/Getty Images) /
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Borussia Dortmund will be aiming to secure their spot in the Europa League Round of 32 when they take on Real Madrid in their final Champions League game of the season.

Der BVB have failed to register a win in their last eight games and only have two points in the Champions League this season. Matching Apoel’s result will help Borussia Dortmund qualify for the Europa League on Wednesday. But they face a daunting task against Real Madrid, the current European champions.

Match Information

Date: December 6th

Time: 8:45 p.m. CET (local time)/2:45 p.m. EST

Venue: Santiago Bernabéu, Madrid

Form Guide

Borussia Dortmund:

Last 5 matches: LLLDD

Last match: Borussia Dortmund 1-1 Bayer Leverkusen

Analysis: Dortmund is in crisis, its a fact we must all know. This winless streak has been prolonging and its starting to get scary. This past week Dortmund faced Bayer Leverkusen in an important match that could have sent us all the way to third place. Dortmund kicked off the game, losing Max Philipp in the early stages due to an injury. Following this, in the 30th-minute, German striker Kevin Volland scored to put Leverkusen up 1-0. A few minutes later, Dortmund would also lose Gonzalo Castro after a horrible tackle by Leverkusen’s Wendell who earned a red card. Even though Leverkusen where playing with just 10 men, Dortmund struggled massively and managed to score the equalizer in the last 20 minutes of playing time. It was a horrible performance by Dortmund, and the result pushed them all the way down to sixth in the table.

Real Madrid:

Last 5 matches: DWWDD

Last Match: Real Madrid 0-0 Athletic Bilbao

Analysis: Real Madrid is surprisingly winless in their last 2 games. Los Galacticos are coming off a crucial game against Athletic Bilbao. Real Madrid dominated the game with 66% of possession and taking 13 shots, which was almost twice than what Athletic Bilbao took. Cristiano Ronaldo and company went missing once again in a game that could have put them above Atletico Madrid.

More from BVB Buzz

Opposition star man

Real Madrid’s best player this season has been Spanish midfielder, Isco Alarcon. The Spaniard has had a pretty solid season scoring 5 goals and 4 assists in 20 games across 4 different competitions. The 25-year-old has been very versatile playing in both wings and in the middle of the field as a central midfielder.

Matchup History

Dortmund and Real Madrid have already played 13 matches in the history of both clubs. Out of those matches, Real Madrid has the advantage winning 5 of them, but Dortmund is just 2 games shy of matching their record. In the last 10 matches, Dortmund has won 3 of them while Real Madrid has also won 3.

Transfer History

Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund have a very small history of transfers between both clubs. Business between both of this giants started in 2003 when Real Madrid loaned Brazilian international Flavio Conceicao to Borussia Dortmund. Flavio only played 16 games for Dortmund and 74 for Real Madrid. Following this, Dortmund sold Christoph Metzelder for free to Real Madrid in 2007. The center back played only 31 games for Real Madrid, on the other hand, he played 178 games for Borussia Dortmund. The most recent transfer between both teams was talented Turkish midfielder Nuri Sahin. He only managed to play in 10 games before returning on loan spells and ultimately transferred back to Dortmund where he currently plays.

SANTANDER, SPAIN – APRIL 04: Christoph Metzelder (R) of Real Madrid congratulates Gonzalo Higuain after Higuain was substituted during the La Liga match between Racing Santander and Real Madrid at El Sardinero stadium on April 4, 2010, in Santander, Spain. (Photo by Denis Doyle/Getty Images)
SANTANDER, SPAIN – APRIL 04: Christoph Metzelder (R) of Real Madrid congratulates Gonzalo Higuain after Higuain was substituted during the La Liga match between Racing Santander and Real Madrid at El Sardinero stadium on April 4, 2010, in Santander, Spain. (Photo by Denis Doyle/Getty Images) /

Possible lineups

Dortmund 3-4-3

Bürki – Toprak, Sokratis, Bartra – Schmelzer (c), Sahin, Dahoud, Guerreiro – Pulisic, Aubameyang, Yarmolenko

Madrid 4-3-1-2

Navas – Marcelo, Ramos (c), Varane, Hakimi – Kroos, Casemiro, Modric – Isco – Ronaldo, Benzema

Final Prediction

Borussia Dortmund 1-3 Real Madrid

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