Barcelona v Borussia Dortmund: Back Lewandowski to show no mercy | OneFootball

Former Dortmund striker Robert Lewandowski is in terrific form for Barcelona

Barcelona and Borussia Dortmund played out a five-goal thriller in the UCL league phase and Kevin Hatchard anticipates goals again on Wednesday evening in Catalunya.

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Barcelona v Borussia DortmundWednesday 09 April, 20:00Live on Discovery+

Barca on track for season to remember

Given the monumental financial problems the club is facing and the fact they aren't playing at Camp Nou, there was hope but perhaps no expectation that Barcelona would have a successful campaign. Coach Hansi Flick has made a mockery of any cautious pre-season assessments, and is on the cusp of delivering a season for the ages.

Not only are Barca through to the quarter-finals of the Champions League, but they are set for a Copa del Rey final against old foes Real Madrid and they are four points clear of Los Merengues in the La Liga title race.

At the weekend Real lost 2-1 at home to Valencia, but Barcelona couldn't take full advantage as they were held to a 1-1 draw at home by an excellent Real Betis side. Barca were sloppy according to their midfielder Frenkie de Jong, and there was certainly a sense that they lacked the composure they normally show in the final third.

What the draw did do was extend a phenomenal unbeaten run to 22 matches, a sequence that goes back to late December. In Barca's last 11 home matches, they have racked up eight wins and three draws.

What really stands out about Flick's Barcelona, just as it did with his Bayern team, is the incredible attacking play. Just as he did under Flick at Bayern, Robert Lewandowski is proving to be an unstoppable goalscorer, even at the age of 36. The Pole has netted a league-high 25 goals this term, three more than Kylian Mbappe.

Lewandowski will face the club he left in 2014, and he has shown them absolutely no mercy since leaving Signal Iduna Park. In 27 games against Borussia Dortmund, Lewandowski has netted 27 goals, including two hat-tricks and seven braces.

Raphinha didn't start the game against Betis, but will return to the starting line-up here. There are fitness doubts over Inigo Martinez and Dani Olmo, while young midfielders Marc Casado and Marc Bernal are both still sidelined by serious injuries.

Unpredictable Dortmund looking to salvage their season

Last term, Borussia Dortmund finished an unimpressive fifth in the Bundesliga, but still managed to reach the Champions League final. They knocked out a highly-fancied PSG side in the semi-finals (the French side hit the woodwork six times across two legs), having found a way past Atletico Madrid in the quarters.

This season there is even more of a split between Dortmund's domestic form and their continental exploits. They are eighth in the league standings, a staggering 27 points off top spot, but in the Champions League they have excelled. Portuguese champions Sporting were dismissed in the playoff round, and an impressive Lille side were beaten 3-2 on aggregate.

Dortmund wasted a lot of time on the flight of fancy that was former BVB midfielder Nuri Sahin's tenure, and now Croatian taskmaster Niko Kovac is trying to turn the season around. In the Bundesliga the former Eintracht Frankfurt and Bayern boss has delivered four wins and four defeats, the perfect encapsulation of a side that has proven incapable of achieving consistency.

Dortmund's cause hasn't been helped by the loss of star centre-back Nico Schlotterbeck to injury. The German international is a big part of BVB's build-up play, and although he can be very rash, he is generally a strong defender.

BVB go into this game in decent form though. They demolished Freiburg 4-1 in the Black Forest on Saturday, as on-loan Chelsea midfielder Carney Chukwuemeka scored his first Bundesliga goal. The week before they swept aside a strong Mainz side 3-1.

Marcel Sabitzer is out with a knee problem, and centre-back Niklas Süle has only just returned from injury. Yan Couto is available, but the more defensively reliable Julian Ryerson will get the nod at right-back.

Lewandowski to strike in exciting clash

I'll double up a Lewandowski goal with a BTTS bet here on the Bet Builder at 5/4. Lewandowski has a superb record against his old club, and he has found the net a staggering 40 times for club and country this season in 50 matches.

The other part of the bet is basically a wager about whether Dortmund can score, and I think they can. The game between these two in the league phase in Dortmund ended 3-2 to Barca, and Dortmund have scored in all but one of their Champions League matches this term. Barca have managed just three shut-outs in 10 UCL games this term.

Bensebaini in for a tough evening

Dortmund are likely to deploy Algerian international Ramy Bensebaini at left-back, and he'll be up against the mercurial Lamine Yamal. Yamal is joint-sixth in fouls suffered in La Liga, with 50 so far.

Bensebaini has committed two fouls in four of his last five Dortmund starts, and he committed two against Barca in the league phase, so we can double up two Bensebaini fouls with Yamal to be fouled twice at 8/5 on the Bet Builder.

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Back Robert Lewandowski to score and BTTS @ 5/4