The UEFA Champions League 2013 second semi-final match between Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund will kick off on Tuesday night. They will play at Read Madrid's home ground Estadio Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid.
The game will kick off at 12:15 AM IST (Wednesday, 1 May), and will be telecast live on Ten Action.
Overview:
Borussia Dortmund thrashed Real Madrid 4-1 in their previous semi-final match at German Signal Iduna Park. Robert Lewandowski scored all the four goals while Cristiano Ronaldo scored the lone goal for Jose Mourinho's team. The humiliation came just a day after another German club, Bayern Munich routed Barcelona 4-0. Real Madrid will be keen to not just win but beat Borussia Dortmund with a big margin in order to enter the final.
Real Madrid's performance this season hasn't been very impressive. They won five games, drew three and lost three in the 11 games played so far. They are wounded by the 4-1 defeat to Jurgen Klopp's side in the previous match, which was their second lost to the team this season. They will be keen to take revenge before their home crowd on Tuesday.
Borussia Dortmund are in very good form, not conceding any defeat this season. They won seven of the 11 matches played and drew four. They defeated Real Madrid at home and drew the away fixture in the group stage, and went on to beat them again in the semi-final first leg. They will be keen to keep the winning momentum going and paly the final at Wembley Stadium.
Previous Meetings:
Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund met on three occasions this season, and the latter was the clear winner, beating the Spanish champions 2-1 at home and drawing 2-2 at the Bernabeu in the group stage, and then defeating 4-1 in the semi-final first leg.
Team News:
Real Madrid: Alvaro Arbeloa, who didn't play the previous match due to suspension, is likely to return to the team. Pepe is expected to warm the bench, while Angel Di Maria, who missed the semi-final match following the birth of his daughter, is available for Tuesday's match. Cristiano Ronaldo, the lone scorer of the previous match, is nursing a thigh injury but he is likely to be field in the critial match.
Borussia Dortmund: Jurgen Klopp is expected to field the same line-up that won the first semi-final on Tuesday too. Lukasz Piszczek has been nursing a groin injury but he is expected to join Mats Hummels, Neven Subotic and Marcel Schmelzer in the defence.
Prediction:
Borussia Dortmund defeated Real Madrid convincingly in the semi-final first leg but it will be a different ball game at Madrid. Jose Mourinho's side has better chance to win on Tuesday but may not score big enough to take them to the final.
Probable Line-Ups:
Real Madrid: Diego Lopez; Raphael Varane, Alvaro Arbeloa, Sergio Ramos, Fabio Coentrao; Sami Khedira, Xabi Alonso; Angel Di Maria, Mesut Ozil, Cristiano Ronaldo; Gonzalo Higuain
Borussia Dortmund: Roman Weidenfeller; Lukasz Piszczek, Mats Hummels, Neven Subotic, Marcel Schmelzer; Ilkay Gundogan, Sven Bender; Marco Reus, Mario Gotze, Jakub Błaszczykowski; Robert Lewandowski
