Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund will renew their rivalry on Wednesday in the Champions League quarterfinals.
The two sides will face off for the fifth time in the last year. A year ago the two sides were drawn into the same group and then met up again in the semifinals. In the first group match Dortmund managed a 2-1 win over Real Madrid; the rematch at the Bernabeu was a 2-2 draw. In the semifinal, Dortmund won out to a 4-1 win in the first leg thanks to four goals from Robert Lewandowski; the second leg was a 2-0 win by Real Madrid.
A year ago, Dortmund was a team on the rise while Real Madrid was falling apart and finished the season in shambles. On Wednesday the two sides are virtual opposites. Real Madrid is enjoying a resurgence under Carlo Ancelotti while Dortmund is losing Lewandowski in the summer, has lost the Bundesliga title and is plagued with injuries. The team will be without Ilkay Gundogan, Marcel Schmelzer, Sven Bender, Jakub Blaszczykowski and Neven Subotic.
Real Madrid enters the match struggling a bit after managing a 31-game unbeaten run. The team was stopped a week ago by Barcelona in a controversial 4-3 loss; a few days later the team struggled in Sevilla a lost 2-1. Despite managing a 5-0 win this weekend at home, Madrid had to enduring booing from fans and must try to find a way to put on a huge performance in front of its home crowd.
The two teams took distinctive paths to get to this point in the UCL. Dortmund won the Group of Death that included Napoli, Arsenal and Marseille. Madrid managed to win the top spot in a group that included Juventus, Galatasaray and Copenhagen.
In the round of 16 Los Blancos were paired up with Schalke 04 and broke their curse of not winning consistently in Germany with a 6-1 triumph. In the return leg Madrid won 3-1 to finish with a 9-2 aggregate score.
Dortmund drew the "easiest" side in Zenit St. Petersburg (the Russian side had accumulated the fewest points of all the knockout stage contestants) and won 4-2 in the away match. However, the team lost 2-1 at home and wound up with a 5-4 aggregate win.
Player to Watch: He is usually recognized as the hero of Madrid, but for one night he was the villain and earned the derision of his fans. Cristiano Ronaldo has been a bright spot all year for Madrid but his play has fallen off a bit since picking up the Ballon d'Or. He has 13 goals in this competition and could break the record on Wednesday of most goals in the UCL with a brace against Dortmund. Look for him to be hungry to right all the wrongs against him on Sunday, especially in front of the home crowd.
Prediction: Madrid manages 3-1 win; Ronaldo scores a brace.
The match kicks off at 3:45 p.m. EST and can be streamed online on Fox Soccer 2 Go. It can also be viewed on Fox Deportes.
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