On Wednesday, Dortmund and Barcelona will face each other on matchday 6 of the Champions League, two teams that could secure their progress early.
Dortmund are lagging behind expectations in the Bundesliga, but coach Nuri Sahin's team are doing excellently in the European Cup. BVB have the opportunity to secure their place in the knockout rounds in their third-to-last league match. FC Barcelona, the leaders of the Spanish championship, have the same good record as the Germans with four wins and one defeat in the Champions League.
It will be former German national team coach Hansi Flick's first match as coach of FC Barcelona in Germany. The Spaniards have lost some of the momentum of the first few weeks under the new coach, with just one win in their last three games. Dortmund are worried about injuries ahead of the clash. Niklas Süle, who has been out for months, playmaker Julian Brandt and central defender Waldemar Anton will not be involved.
Swiss international keeper Gregor Kobel, who was voted into the Kicker Team of the Round on the last Bundesliga matchday, had this to say about Dortmund's prolonged bad luck with injuries: "It's part of our job. We are under a lot of pressure and have a lot of games. But we have great confidence in all the players. Everyone in the team can deliver a top performance."
Short journey, new goalkeeper
Bundesliga rivals Bayern Munich, who gained some breathing space two weeks ago with a home win against Paris Saint-Germain, are missing their goalkeeper. Israeli Daniel Peretz will replace Manuel Neuer, who is out with a broken rib, in the starting line-up against Shakhtar Donetsk in Gelsenkirchen. For the 24-year-old, who joined the club a year and a half ago to replace Yann Sommer, it will be his fifth match for FC Bayern and his first ever in the Champions League.
Bologna hoping for a premiere
Manuel Akanji is surprisingly under pressure with Manchester City. If the English champions lose at Juventus Turin in their final two matches, they could have to worry about progressing. The game of last chance awaits Champions League debutants Bologna, who are still winless in the competition. Dan Ndoye and Remo Freuler will face Benfica Lisbon with fellow Nati player Zeki Amdouni, while Bologna's Michel Aebischer has been injured for some time.
Noah Okafor (with Milan against Red Star Belgrade) as well as Breel Embolo, Denis Zakaria and substitute goalkeeper Philipp Köhn (with Monaco at Arsenal) are the other Swiss players who will be away from Stuttgart in the Champions League on Wednesday.
SDA
