Real Madrid entertain Borussia Dortmund at the Santiago Bernabeu tonight with just one thing on their minds – revenge.
Los Blancos were beaten at the semi-final stage of the Champions League by the German side last year. Despite winning 2-0 in the second leg in Madrid, the damage was done in in Germany, with Dortmund humiliating Jose Mourinho’s side 4-1, with striker Robert Lewandowski grabbing a sensational hat-trick.
Much has changed since then, not least with Madrid changing managers and now being led by Champions League expert Carlo Ancelotti, who has won the competition twice as manager to add to the two European Cups he lifted as a player.
Madrid come into the game on the back of the 5-0 rout of Rayo Vallecano on Saturday evening. They did, however, lose their previous two matches- against Barcelona and Sevilla. But in the Champions League against German opposition, Los Blancos have a good record, winning 19 of their 25 games played and losing just twice.
Ancleotti will be unable to pick a number of players through injury, including Marcelo, Jese Rodriguez, Alvaro Arbeloa and Sami Khedira. Iker Casillas will resume his place in goal as is usual for cup matches, while Luka Modric will likely be restored to the starting line up. Angel di Maria is also out with gastroenteritis and will be replaced by Asier Illarramendi.
For the visitors, star striker Robert Lewandowski is suspended. Jakub Błaszczykowski, Marcel Schmelzer, Neven Subotic and Sven Bender are all unavailable, but Marco Reus will feature.
Possible line-ups:
Real Madrid: Casillas; Carvajal, Pepe, Ramos, Coentrao; Modric, Alonso, Illarramendi; Bale, Benzema, Ronaldo.
Borussia Dortmund: Weidenfeller; Piszcek, Sokratis, Hummels, Durm; Kehl, Sahin; Aubameyang, Mhkitaryan, Grosskreutz; Reus.
