Dortmund eye UCL last-16 place | OneFootball

Borussia Dortmund vs. Sporting Lisbon: UEFA Champions League play-off second leg probable teams, match stats and LIVE blog!

Holding a solid 3-0 lead against Portuguese champions Sporting CP, Borussia Dortmund are well placed to seal the deal at the Signal Iduna Park and book a place in the UEFA Champions League Round of 16.

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Dortmund picked up a convincing victory in the Portuguese capital last week as Serhou Guirassy, Pascal Groß and Karim Adeyemi found the back of the net. All three should be available for Niko Kovač, with Guirassy looking to consolidate his place at the top of the Champions League scoring charts. The Guinea international has so far found the back of the net on 10 occasions in European club football's  elite competition this term. BVB suffered contrasting fortunes on the domestic front as they lost 2-0 to Bochum at the weekend, a result that left the Black-and-Yellows in 11th place in the standings. Yet Kovač and Co. can seek solace in Europe and they have close to a full team to choose from against Sporting, with only Felix Nmecha and Ramy Bensebaini ruled out as they continue their respective recoveries from muscle and knee injuries. The Black-Yellows will be hoping January signing Carney Chukwuemeka can feature after missing the Bochum match, but full-back Daniel Svensson - also a new arrival last month - is likely to play an important role as Sporting go in search of goals.The visitors also struggled domestically at the weekend, having to come from behind against mid-table Arouca to salvage a 2-2 draw - they were also reduced to 10 men with around 30 minutes left when Morten Hjulmand was sent off. The Denmark international's ban is only domestic, though, so he will be available to play here having missed the first leg, also due to suspension. Rui Borges - Sporting's third coach this season - will hope to have Pedro Gonçalves available, if only from the bench following his long-term lay-off due to a muscle injury. However, for Geny Catamo and Nuno Santos, this fixture should come too soon. Sporting, who top the Portuguese Primera Liga and defeated Manchester City 4-1 in the league phase of this competition, will look to former St. Pauli striker Viktor Gyökeres - scorer of 34 goals in all competitions this term - for inspiration. The Sweden international was only fit enough to come on from the bench in the first leg.

Watch: All of Serhou Guirassy's Bundesliga goals

Match stats

Probable teams

Sporting: Rui Silva - Fresneda, St. Juste, Diomande, Matheus Reis - Hjulmand (c), Simões – Quenda, Trincão, Araújo - GyökeresOut: Catamo (ankle sprain), Nuno Santos (knee)Doubtful: Gonçalves (muscle)Coach: Rui Borges

Dortmund: Kobel - Ryerson, Can (c), Schlotterbeck, Svensson - Sabitzer, Groß - Adeyemi, Brandt, Gittens - GuirassyOut: Bensebaini (muscular), Nmecha (knee)Doubtful: Chukwuemeka (knee)Coach: Niko KovačFollow the second leg below!

First-leg report

Sporting 0-3 Borussia DortmundGoals: 0-1 Guirassy 60' (assist: Brandt), 0-2 Groß 68' (assist: Guirassy), 0-3 Adeyemi 82' (assist: Brandt)

Dortmund, in just their second game under new head coach Niko Kovač, were disciplined at the back in a cagey first half in which neither side appeared willing to risk too much. Sporting had the best chance of the first 45 minutes when Maximiliano Araújo’s venomous drive from the edge of the box struck the crossbar. Conrad Harder also had a powerful effort pawed away by Gregor Kobel, while at the other end of the pitch Dortmund went closest via Jamie Gittens’ sizzling low shot from 25 yards that swerved just wide of the post. Serhou Guirassy was as his liveliest as the interval approached, firing wide from close range and having a penalty appeal waved away after being felled following a dart into the box.

The match followed a similar pattern early in the second half until a loose ball in the box fell kindly for Karim Adeyemi, whose low, first-time effort was well saved by goalkeeper Rui Silva. That sparked Dortmund into life and just moments later former Mainz defender Jeremiah St. Juste made a last-gasp tackle to prevent Adeyemi getting a shot away and Gittens also had an effort blocked. There was no stopping a brilliant, looping Guirassy header back across goal and into the net from a pinpoint Julian Brandt cross, however, giving Kovač's charges the lead. Guirassy turned provider a short while later, delivering a carbon copy of Brandt's right-wing cross for Pascal Groß to tap in at the back post. Adeyemi scored a potentially decisive third goal late on, sliding in to finish another cross from Brandt to leave Kovač's charges on the cusp of a place in the round of 16.

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