Old European central powers battle for one-upmanship

BERLIN: First place in the group is at stake when Borussia Dortmund visit Real Madrid in the Champions League tomorrow, while the other Madrid club Atletico have already clinched top spot ahead of their visit to Bayern Munich a day earlier.

But Bayern, who are also through to the knock-out stages, will be playing for pride after losing the first game 1-0 in Spain and also crashing out against Atletico in last season’s semi-finals.

German v Spanish duels in the elite event have been intriguing over the past few years, with Bayern and Dortmund famously beating Barcelona and Real, respectively, to reach the 2013 final.

But Bayern then went out in the semis against Real, Barca and Atletico in the following three seasons; while Dortmund were eliminated by Real in the 2014 quarters.

Now they cross swords again in the Bernabeu, with Dortmund two points ahead and a draw enough to give them first place and a possibly easier last-16 draw.

The Spanish league leaders Real are coming off a 1-1 draw in El Clasico at Barca, while Dortmund thrashed Borussia Moenchengladbach 4-1 in the Bundesliga.

Dortmund are, however, only sixth in the league owing to several slip-ups, but on the weekend the team responded well to harsh criticism from coach Thomas Tuchel following a 2-1 defeat at Eintracht Frankfurt. Marco Reus, back from a long injury layoff, set up three goals, teenager Ousmane Dembele also had an outstanding game, and marksman PierreEmerick Aubameyang scored a brace for a league-leading 15 season goals.

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“Now Marco is back again and the manner in which he has returned and the attitude he has shown over the last few weeks have been fantastic,” Tuchel said. Aubameyang also delighted in Reus’ return, saying: “I’m very happy that he’s back. He’s one of the best players we have.” Reus returned the compliment, saying: “It’s just like last year. We need Auba’s goals. And when Auba scores goals, we’re all happy.” Dortmund will hope for similar magic in the Bernabeu but must also be on their guard as both teams drew 2-2 in the first meeting in Germany. Bayern had, meanwhile, originally hoped that they would also play for first place against Atletico but a surprise 3-2 defeat at Russia’s Rostov ended those ambitions as they are six points behind. They are also only second in the Bundesliga, behind surprise leaders RB Leipzig, but a tactical tweak by coach Carlo Ancelotti in a 3-1 victory in Mainz, could prove a winning formula for the future.

Ancelotti moved Thomas Mueller, who is having a difficult season, into a play-making role behind striker Robert Lewandowski, a change that worked wonders against Mainz and left everyone satisfied.

“I’m delighted for all the forwards. They combined really well,” Ancelotti said. Defender Mats Hummels added: “We had another option in attacking midfield. I think it’s the best position for Thomas. He can roam in the hole at will and is always highly dangerous.”

Mueller spoke of “my favourite position,” and Ancelotti could do the same again tonight as plenty of movement up front will be needed to break down Atletico who are yet to drop a point. – dpa