Barcelona welcome last year’s finalists Dortmund
Champions League favourites Barcelona welcome last year’s finalists Borussia Dortmund to Montjuic in the first leg of their quarter-final tie on Wednesday.
Hansi Flick‘s side have been steamrolling their way through this competition so far, playing undoubtedly the most eye-catching attacking football, justifying their position at the top of the markets.
With a place against Inter Milan or Bayern Munich on the line, for both of these sides there is added incentive to reach the last four.
Barcelona will still want to exercise the demons of their semi-final defeat to Inter in 2010, while Dortmund could make up for years of torture at the hands of Bayern as they seek to reach back-to-back finals.
The task for the German side looks huge though, given the scintillating form Barcelona are currently in, having gone unbeaten in 22 games, winning 18.
A quadruple remains in sight though for Barcelona, who have already won the Spanish Super Cup, and advanced to the Copa del Rey final.
The fact that a Clasico final could occur in two separate competitions, while the two are still battling for the title, suggests this could be one of the finest seasons of all time in Spanish football.
Flick will only be focused on his own team’s exploits though, and attention will shift to this first leg with Dortmund, with the two now meeting in Spain after facing off at the Westfalenstadion during the league phase.
Barca have never lost in five previous meetings with Dortmund, and manager Flick has a perfect 100% record against them, with six wins from six across his time with Bayern, and including the league phase success.
The odds are even further stacked against Dortmund when you consider they have won on just three of their 20 trips to Spain, with a 5-2 defeat at Real Madrid earlier this season adding to that poor record, even though they did briefly lead 2-0 at the Bernabeu.
Barca will know they cannot take Dortmund lightly though, because despite a very poor domestic campaign, the Yellow-Blacks have been a force in Europe recently.
Well worth their favourites tag, it would be a huge surprise to see anything but a Barcelona win in this first leg, and they should extend their dominant record over Dortmund ahead of next week’s return.
Dortmund have scored in each of their previous 11 Champions League away matches, but even then that is unlikely going to be enough for them against this Barcelona machine, that can score goals at will past any team.
Credit: sportsmole.co.uk
PSG, Aston Villa vie for Champs League first-leg
Ronaldo pays tribute after death of former coach
Cristiano Ronaldo has paid tribute following the death on Tuesday of the coach who discovered him and several other elite Portuguese players.
Aurelio da Silva Pereira, who died aged 77, created Sporting Lisbon’s recruitment and training department in 1988 and went on to be responsible for the development of some of Portugal’s finest players.
The list of players he discovered and nurtured includes Ronaldo, Luis Figo, Nani and Ricardo Quaresma.
“One of the greatest symbols of world training has left us, but his legacy will live on forever,” Ronaldo posted, external on social media.
“I will never stop being grateful for everything he did for me and for so many other players. Until forever, Mr. Aurelio, thank you for everything. Rest in peace.”
Aurelio Pereira was partly responsible for Portugal’s greatest football achievement, as the Euro 2016-winning squad featured 10 players he helped to discover. That team was nicknamed the ‘Aurelios’.
In 2017, he received the Medal of Sporting Merit from the City of Lisbon and, in 2018, Uefa distinguished him with the Order of Merit for his contribution to the development of Portuguese and European football.
Sporting – for whom Aurelio Pereira played and later coached after returning from Lisbon rivals Benfica – named their academy’s main pitch after him.
“He was a master in his field and a person everyone agreed upon,” Sporting said in a statement.
Credit: bbc.com
