Borussia Dortmund VS Barcelona Venue: Signal Iduna Park
Borussia Dortmund VS Barcelona Date: Wednesday, December 11
BetXchange Borussia Dortmund VS Barcelona Odds:
History
The new format of the Champions League for the 2024-25 season means we get crucial games through the league phase. The top 8 teams qualify automatically for the Round of 16, while teams finishing ninth through 24th will have a playoff to decide the other eight qualifiers.
This makes finishing in the top 8 vital, and Borussia Dortmund and Barcelona are heading into Matchday 6 in ideal positions. They have each won four and lost one of their opening five pictures, each sitting on 12 points, with Barcelona third and Dortmund fourth on goal difference.
The winner will move to 15 points, knowing that a win in either of their last two matches will almost certainly be enough to secure qualification. The loser will be in a more precarious position, with teams down to AC Milan in 16th place, being on nine points and in position to strike for the top 8.
Borussia Dortmund
Dortmund faces an injury crisis as they host Barcelona on Wednesday. After the weekend’s action, defender Niklas Sule joined an already full treatment room, removing a defensive lynchpin from the pool of players available for selection.
Losing just Sule would be an issue, but he joins a pair of stars on the sidelines in attacking midfielder Julian Brandt and defensive partner Waldemar Anton. Add that Karmin Adeyemi and Max Beier also have doubts, and Dortmund has issues on the injury front at both ends of the park.
Don’t be shocked to see Emre Can drop into more of a defensive position to help cover the absence of Sule. While Can is typically more of a midfielder, he has played at the back for Dortmund and Liverpool in a pinch. He may well be the player selected to work alongside Nico Scholtterbeck here.
The hosts are sixth in the Bundesliga, 12 points behind leaders Bayern Munich. They have been on a decent run, losing just once in their last five matches domestically, but a draw at the weekend against Borussia Monchengladbach will be seen as points dropped.
Barcelona
Barcelona remains at the top of La Liga, but its current run of results can best be described as mixed. They have picked up just one win from their last five domestic games, drawing two and losing two. This includes a 2-2 draw away at Real Betis last weekend.
Uruguayan center-back Ronald Araujo is back in the picture and has been named part of the Catalan’s 23-man squad for this fixture. Given the time he has missed recently due to an injury, it will be interesting to see if head coach Hansi Flick will risk Araujo.
Best Bets
Dortmund is always great at home. This season, they have won eight and drawn one at the SIgnal Iguna Stadium, while their last defeat on their home patch in the Champions League was over three years ago.
Conversely, Dortmund has never beaten Barcelona. In their four Champions League meetings, Barca has won two, and there have been two draws. Flick has also never lost to Dortmund as a head coach, with Barca striker Robert Lewandowski having more goals (27) than matches (26) played against the Ruhr basin side.
This feels like a game that will end in a score draw. That is what I would back.
