Dortmund v Barcelona: Back goals for both teams on Wednesday evening | OneFootball

UEFA Champions League

Barcelona are struggling to reach their early season heights under Hansi Flick

Both Dortmund and Barcelona are occupying top-eight berths in the Champions League ahead of their Wednesday night meeting. Mark O'Haire is backing goals when the two teams go head-to-head in Germany.

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Dortmund v BarcelonaWednesday December 11, 20:00Live on TNT Sports

Gittens playing a starring role for Dortmund

Last season's Champions League runners-up Dortmund have made an impressive start to the current continental campaign (W4-D0-L1), with their sole reverse at Real Madrid. Only Liverpool and Inter are above BVB in the UCL standings after MD5 with Nuri Sahin's troops well-placed to bypass the play-offs and secure one of the eight places in the last-16.

Die Schwarzgelben come into this contest following back-to-back 1-1 draws against Bayern Munich in Der Klassiker, as well as their weekend trip to Borussia Monchengladbach. Young English winger Jamie Gittens was on target on each occasion, taking his seasonal goal tally to nine from just 20 appearances. The 20-year-old is Dortmund's leading light.

However, Sahin may be forced into a defensive reshuffle in midweek. Centre-back Waldemar Anton is already unavailable through injury and may be joined on the sidelines by Niklas Sule, who limped out of action on Saturday with an ankle injury. Emre Can may be required at the heart of defence with BVB lacking bodies at centre-half.

Barcelona enduring unexpected lean spell

Barcelona boss Hansi Flick has blamed his squad's physical fitness for a recent slump in form. The Catalans have tabled 20 triumphs from 26 matches across all competitions in 2024/25, though the Blaugrana have bagged only two victories in their last six after dropping points late on at Real Betis last weekend in another laboured effort.

Flick responded by giving the group more time to recover ahead of Wednesday night's clash as he wants the aggression and sharpness of the opening months back in his side. Several key players recently returned to full fitness, including young superstar Lamine Yamal, Dani Olmo, Robert Lewandowski and Pedri, all four of whom featured against Betis.

Barcelona are very eager to secure a top-eight finish with Flick keen to avoid two more fixtures in an already congested calendar. Meanwhile, the club's accountants are also hopeful the Blaugrana can avoid the play-offs - the Catalans will earn a minimum €38m from finishing in the top-eight, with a bumper bonus for topping the league standings.

Dortmund difficult to beat at home

Borussia Dortmund have failed to beat Barcelona in their four previous meetings (W0-D2-L2). BVB have also failed to even keep their sheets clean in any of their last nine matches against Spanish opposition in the Champions League (conceding 20 goals, including a five-goal haul against Real Madrid already this term).

Nevertheless, Dortmund 3.35 have been strong opposition at the Westfalenstadion. Die Schwarzgelben have posted W8-D1-L0 as hosts this season, only dropping points in Der Klassiker. Last term, BVB toppled Newcastle, PSG and Atletico Madrid here in the UCL and Nuri Sahin's side shouldn't fear the visit of Barcelona based on their current form.

Barcelona 2.16 have succeeded just once in their past four games as guests, dropping points at Real Sociedad, Celta Vigo and Betis. The Catalans have also managed a solitary shutout in eight as Flick's charges have struggled to match their early season heights. The visitors are W5-D2-L7 across their past 14 away Champions League contests.

Goals the smart play

With neither side standing-out at the lines and prices, a smarter play is to enter the goals markets. Both sides have displayed a preference for front-foot, attacking football and an entertaining encounter could well be on the cards at Westfalenstadion. Backing Both Teams To Score and Under 4.5 Goals gives us a range of correct scores onside at a palatable 2.02.

Taking this approach allows us to support the score draws, as well as the 2-1 or 3-1 victories for either side. Dortmund have failed to score just twice in home UCL encounters since 2019, whilst Barcelona arrive with BTTS paying-out in nine of their previous 11 matches in this competition with their only clean sheets coming against Young Boys and Brest.

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