Dortmund ready for Real test
Madrid hitman Ronaldo closes in on a century of European goals
Dortmund (Germany), Sept. 26: Disgruntled Cristiano Ronaldo could make more Champions League history on Tuesday as his Real Madrid side look to end their losing streak at high-flying Borussia Dortmund.
A hat-trick for Ronaldo in Dortmund, who was left fuming after being substituted on Saturday, would see him become the first player to score a century of European goals.
Ahead of the flight to Dortmund, Real coach Zinedine Zidane subbed Ronaldo for the final 20 minutes of Saturday’s 2-2 Spanish League draw at Las Palmas.
The Portuguese superstar was furious with the decision, storming off the field without acknowledging Zidane.
It did nothing to help his mood when Las Palmas equalised five minutes from the end.
Madrid fans have backed Zidane over his handling of the club’s all-time top scorer with 83 percent supporting his decision in a poll carried out by Madrid sports daily AS.
Ronaldo’s free-kick equaliser in Real’s 2-1 comeback win against Sporting Lisbon in their first Group F, the same night Dortmund won 6-0 at Legia Warsaw, left him on 97 goals in European club competition.
His main rival in the race to 100 goals is Barcelona’s star Lionel Messi, who has 89.
But Borussia want to maintain their unbeaten home record against Real, who have won just four times in 29 away games against German clubs.
Dortmund’s Signal Iduna Park stadium has particularly bad memories for Madrid, who have lost their last three visits to the Bundesliga giants.
Their 2-0 defeat at Dortmund in the 2014 quarter-finals came a year after their 4-1 thumping in the 2013 semi-finals when Robert Lewandowski scored all four goals for Borussia. They also lost a group stage game 2-1 at Dortmund in 2012.
REAL SLUMP Real’s serene run since Zidane took charge in January has hit a slump in the past week.
The European champions dropped points against Villarreal and Las Palmas to snap a 16-game winning streak in the Spanish league.
Confidence is high in the Dortmund camp.
After their shock 1-0 defeat at newly-promoted RB Leipzig a fortnight ago in the Bundesliga, Dortmund have netted 20 goals in the four games since.
They are second only to Bayern Munich in Germany’s top flight.
As PierreEmerick Aubameyang put it after last Tuesday’s 5-1 demolition of Wolfsburg. ‘DRAGON SLAYER’
SLIMANI BACK FOR LEICESTER Leicester City may be unfamiliar Champions League opponents for Porto, who visit the King Power Stadium on Tuesday, but Islam Slimani is a player they know all too well. During his three seasons with Sporting Lisbon, the Algeria striker scored six goals against Porto in six appearances, earning him the nickname ‘The Dragon Slayer’ from the Lisbon club’s fans.
Now paired up front with Jamie Vardy for Leicester, he will hope to resume his torment of the Portuguese giants as the English champions play the first home top-tier European game in their 132-year history. Leicester broke their transfer record to sign Slimani, 28, from Sporting on transfer deadline day, paying a fee of around £28 million ($36.3 million).
But he is every bit as rough-cut as Vardy, who joined Leicester from nonleague Fleetwood Town in 2012, or his Algeria team mate Riyad Mahrez, who was signed from Le Havre.