Cristiano Ronaldo has been dominant through two rounds in the UCL. After a mediocre week for the Superstar, he is likely thrilled to be back on a big stage that he has thrived on thus far this season.
Against Manchester City he put together a 90th minute tally that gave Real Madrid a clutch win and set them up at the top of Group D (which should be aptly named the group of death). He topped that effort with a hat trick against Ajax in a 4-1 win that solidified Madrid's standing in the group. Ronaldo has been red hot with 11 goals in 6 straight games for Madrid and has only failed to score in three games this season as a member of Los Merengues. More importantly however is that Madrid is in dire need of some defensive help after injuries to Marcelo, Fabio Coentrao, and Alvaro Arbeloa. They fended off Celta Vigo, but their UCL opponents Borussia Dortmund will be a greater test. If Madrid manages to win their match, they book one spot in the Round of 32 for the Europa League.
Borussia Dortmund probably wants their last match back as they drew 1-1 with Manchester City on a last minute penalty shot. They controlled the majority of that much and could have won by more had keeper Joe Hart not stopped more than a few quality chances. However this team has struggled in the German Bundesliga. With only one win in their last five games (2 draws and 2 losses) they have found themselves sitting fourth place with just 12 points and are 12 points behind first place Bayern Munich. Marco Reus has been tremendous for the team with 4 goals on the season and he had the single goal against Man City a few weeks ago. They will look to attack Madrid, especially knowing they have their fan's support.
Prediction: Borussia will make life difficult for Ronaldo and company, but I think Madrid is capable of pulling out a big one here. 2-1 Madrid.
Start Time: 2:45 p.m. EDT
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