One of the most attractive things about the new format that UEFA is applying for the first time in the Champions League this season is that there will soon be many fiery clashes between strong teams. Last season’s final match will be repeated at 2:00 a.m. on October 23.
WAIT TO SEE REAL “SPEED UP”
The center of attention in tonight’s series of matches in the Champions League is the clash between Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund. These are the two teams that just played the 2024 Champions League final, less than 5 months ago.
Having won both La Liga and the Champions League last season, and adding superstar Kylian Kylian to an already strong attack, Real Madrid is expected to reach an “unmatched” level this season. Nurse suspects that they have lost points 3 times, standing below Barcelona with a gap of 3 points in the national domestic position. Turning to the Champions League, it was even more surprising when Real lost 0-1 to Lille in the recent series. The championship is only ranked 17/36 in the Champions League rankings after 2 matches.
The left wing of Real’s squad is too cramped, with the usual situation of attacking stars trampling each other. Anyway, that is the situation that coach Carlo Ancelotti had to imagine before strengthening Mbappe. After a seemingly unsuccessful start, Mbappe has begun to score regularly recently. The majority of observers say: sooner or later, Real will “come into shape”. The problem is when? Real needs to “speed up” urgently, with 2 big matches waiting for them this week: meeting runner-up Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League and Barcelona in La Liga at the weekend! Dani Carvajal (most important), David Alaba and Brahim Diaz are injured players and cannot play.
DORTMUND HAS DIFFICULTY TO KEEP THE CHAMPION OF THE TABLE
Surprisingly, Dortmund is the team leading the Champions League rankings right now. They won all 2 matches and scored 10 goals. But of course, the biggest reason is that the opponents (Brugge and Celtic) are not strong. Dortmund is holding the top position after this week’s round in the Champions League, so this will definitely be a phenomenon, creating a lot of ink for the press to discuss. Nuri Sahin’s team leads the 7th team in the Bundesliga.
Karim Adeyemi had to pay the price for the hat-trick he just scored against Celtic in the previous series with a serious injury. In this series of matches, Dortmund did not have the services of Gio Reyna, Yan Couto, and Julien Duranville due to injury. Without Adeyemi, Dortmund’s attack will rely heavily on Serhou Guirassy. Recalling last season’s final, Dortmund created many scoring opportunities. They ignored Real just because their attack lacked sharpness in scoring. But tonight, perhaps Dortmund’s biggest goal is just to keep the network at the Bernabeu, where they have never won in 7 visits.