Borussia Dortmund v Barcelona: Champions League king to dominate again | OneFootball

UEFA Champions League

Raphinha is the Champions League's top scorer

Barcelona are 4-0 up from the first leg of this quarter-final, and Kevin Hatchard anticipates goals in the second leg...

Borussia Dortmund v BarcelonaTuesday 15 April, 20:00Live on Discovery+

Munich display showed folly of first leg

Borussia Dortmund defended like lions in Saturday's 2-2 draw at Bayern Munich, which made their permissive display in Barcelona last week all the more bizarre and unfathomable. At Montjuic, BVB coach Niko Kovac picked a needlessly attacking line-up, and the attack-minded trio of Julian Brandt, Carney Chukwuemeka and Felix Nmecha were completely overrun in a 4-0 defeat. The back four couldn't cope with so little protection, as Lamine Yamal, Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha ran riot.

In Der Klassiker on Saturday, it was a performance with a completely different vibe. Kovac selected a back three with defensively strong wing-backs, and the cautious Salih Ozcan and Pascal Gross screening the defence. BVB earned the right to play with a stoic first half, and they allowed themselves more attacking freedom after the restart.

Dortmund have now claimed seven points from their last three league matches, and they have cut the gap to the top four to six points. Kovac admits this Champions League tie is pretty much over, but he wants to give something to the fans and boost confidence with a win. There were big positives on Saturday night - Germany forward Maxi Beier continued his strong recent form with the opening goal, Niklas Süle was excellent at centre-back after his recent return from injury, and goalkeeper Gregor Kobel made eight saves in a stubborn display.

Pascal Gross is available after suspension, but Dortmund's best centre-back Nico Schlotterbeck is out for the rest of the season with a torn meniscus in his knee. English winger Jamie Gittens hopes for a recall after he was left out of the Klassiker entirely.

Barca a step closer to season for the ages

Just as he did with Bayern once upon a time, Hansi Flick is on course to win everything there is to win with Barcelona. He racked up six different trophies in Bavaria, including the 2020 Champions League, and this term he could win the Spanish Super Cup, La Liga, the Copa del Rey and another Champions League.

Barca weren't perfect in last week's 4-0 win over Dortmund. They gave up a big chance to Serhou Guirassy at 1-0, but the Guinea striker failed to take advantage of a volley opportunity right in front of the Barca goal. Jamie Gittens shot just wide, Guirassy drove another chance into the side netting and Ronald Araujo had to come up with an excellent late double-block. Flick said his team made too many mistakes, which shows the high standards he's working to.

Barcelona took another stride towards the La Liga title on Saturday as they won 1-0 at Leganes. The Catalan giants are four points clear at the top of the table with seven matches remaining, and they are an impressive 24 games unbeaten in al competitions.

Teenage wing wizard Lamine Yamal continues to dazzle, while Raphinha is the Champions League's top scorer with 12 goals, and he also has seven assists. That means he has equalled Lionel Messi's record of 19 Champions League goal involvements in one season.

With this tie won, Flick may shuffle his pack ahead of a big La Liga game against Celta Vigo. Robert Lewandowski is one goal short of 100 for Barcelona, having scored twice against his old club in the first leg. Ferran Torres scored twice in Barca's 3-2 win in Dortmund in the league phase, and is pushing hard for a start.

Brazil star can sparkle again

6/4 to score here, which is a phenomenal price. He has scored in both meetings this season, and I think Barca will create plenty of chances against Dortmund once again.

I wouldn't put you off backing Over 3.5 Goals here either at 2.2. Dortmund fans will expect their team to at least try to turn the tie around, and the league phase clash at Signal Iduna Park was a proper slugfest, featuring five goals. 27 of Barcelona's last 45 games in all competitions have seen an Over 3.5 Goals bet land, which is a remarkable rate.

Ste Tudor's Build Up Tips:

Back Yamal to have more shots on target than Guirassy

In this instance we're backing a winger over a centre-forward and furthermore an away player in a fixture that necessitates the home side to throw the kitchen sink. Combine these details and it feels unduly risky. That is not the case however when the winger in question is Lamine Yamal.

In La Liga this term, as Barcelona blitz their way to a 28th title, the 17-year-old phenomenon has averaged four shots per 90, and even if his accuracy ratio is way down on his peers that doesn't matter a jot. Volume is all that counts here.It's a volume that only increases when we isolate his Champions League output - going up to 4.3 shots per 90 - and pertinently we don't only have Barca's first-leg encounter with Dortmund when directly comparing Yamal with Guirassy. The sides also met in the league phase of the competition.

In both games, the teen took on four shots. The Guinea international took on five, then three.With eight apiece then from two previous meetings 13/8 represents very decent value when backing the young prodigy and that value only heightens when we acknowledge other factors.

In the Bundesliga, Guirassy's shot-average is 3.1, way down on Yamal's domestic yield, while the 29-year-old has been known to take on just a single effort, doing so on seven occasions in 2024/25.

Moreover, there is Barcelona's extremely healthy advantage to account for, their four-goal lead in this tie requiring a miracle to overturn. Should Blaugrana score away from home - as they have done in 25 of their 26 on the road this season - expect the wind to go out of Dortmund's sails. As Kevin Hatchard suggests above, a goal spree is on the cards at Signal Iduna Park and the visitors will have their fair share and more.

That puts Yamal front and centre to add to his impressive shot-count of late.