Erling Haaland reunites with his former club as Manchester City takes on Borussia Dortmund at home in the second game of Group G in the Champions League.
The Cityzens come straight into another game in the competition after dismantling Sevilla 4-0 last week while Dortmund were left frustrated by RB Leipzig in a 3-0 loss in Bundesliga.
MCI vs DOR Match Details
Date: Wednesday, 14 September 2022/ Thursday, 15 September 2022
Time: 20:00 (BST) / 00:30 (IST)
Venue: Etihad Stadium, Manchester
MCI vs DOR Match Preview
Manchester City’s magnificent striker Erling Haaland continued his scoring spree by netting his first Champions League goals for the club he joined this summer in the 4-0 walloping of Sevilla in the first group stage game. His brace added by goals from Foden and Cancelo gave City early control in the group proceedings in Pep Guardiola’s 150th game in charge. The 22-year-old has already reached 10 goals in the Premier League in six matches so far but didn’t receive the opportunity in his fourth game in a row as their clash against Tottenham was postponed as all other weekend games for the Queen’s death in the UK. However, he will cherish the occasion of facing his old club Dortmund in the second group stage game and probably find the back of the net again in his reunion with his old teammates. The Norwegian exited the German side this summer after his high-priced release clause was activated by Manchester City in the summer transfer window. Haaland scored 86 goals in 89 appearances for the Black and Yellows including 23 goals in 19 Champions League games. With the spotlight falling on him, Man City are looking to strengthen up their position further on top of the table for an early qualification to the latter rounds before facing Copenhagen twice next. The Danish champions have proved to be the weakest opposition in the group so City are hopeful to get the job done beforehand to give key players the necessary rest in this congested schedule leading up to the World Cup. The Premier League champions are unbeaten in all competitions so far having won five of their seven games. They are heading to this fixture on the back of a massive win and facing a Dortmund team not making the best start to their campaign. Also, City haven’t lost to German opposition in the last eight home games of the Champions League, collecting wins in all of them since their last defeat against Dortmund’s arch-rivals Bayern Munich. That is included in their unbeaten record in the last 20 home games in the competition.
The outstanding form of City is a major worry for Edin Terzic’s Dortmund team. Although his side registered a relatively comfortable 3-1 win over FC Copenhagen in the first group stage, they couldn’t follow up the win at the weekend getting thrashed 3-0 by RB Leipzig playing their first game under new boss Marco Rose. The manager whom Dortmund sacked at the end of an underwhelming season last term. The Black and Yellows failed to reach even the knockout rounds of the Champions League relegating to the Europa League. There they got eliminated by eventual finalists Rangers in the playoffs. Dortmund then reappointed their German cup-winning coach Terzic this season but it is fair to say, Rose took sweet revenge on his former club. The defeat felt bitter in the Black and Yellow camp because Leipzig were struggling massively at the start of the season with only one win to show and ex-coach Domenico Tedesco getting the sack following their 4-1 loss to Shakhter in the Champions League last week. Glaring problems in the defense have been an issue Dortmund has failed to solve over the years and it came back to bite them on big occasions like this. They now sit fifth on the Bundesliga table suffering two losses from the first six games of the season already. Dortmund have only two points gap to clear to be at the top of the pie in their domestic league but their immediate concern will be to maintain ascendancy in the Champions League. Edin Terzic’s men shouldn’t have wished to engulf a loss before facing the champions of England shining in their former goal machine scoring form. Haaland’s reunion is a scary thing for Dortmund knowing how destructive he has been for them for the last couple of seasons. The German side are also struggling with the lack of potent number nine since his departure with star striker Sebastian Haller out for treatment on his tumor and Anthony Modeste only scoring one goal so far.
Recent Form (all competitions)
MCI: WDWWD
DOR: LWWWL
MCI vs DOR Team News
Manager Pep Guardiola confirmed in his pre-match press conference that John Stones is fit for the game against Dortmund after missing last week win over Sevilla with a knock. However, Aymeric Laporte is unlikely to be involved for the game but the center-back is looking good in training on his recovery from a Medial Collateral Ligament injury. Kyle Walker is a doubt for the game. No change is expected in the eleven that started the 4-0 win with unexpected rest this weekend due to the league postponement but Ikay Gundogan could return in the midfield to put Bernardo Silva in the attack with Jack Grealish dropping off having only returned from his injury.
Borussia Dortmund has included Thorgan Hazard, Donyell Malen and Karim Adeyemi as part of the traveling squad after they recovered from their injuries but a host of others miss out. First-choice keeper Gregor Kobel is still nursing his muscle injury so Alexander Meyer continues to stay in between the sticks. Mahmoud Dahoud’s absence due to dislocation of his shoulder means he is out for at least two months leaving Dortmund with no option other than to play Salih Ozcan for repetitive games. The shoulder injury to Jamie Bynoe-Gittens causes more absence of personnel in midfield. He is out till December. Right-back Mateu Morey is nursing a meniscus injury while Sebastian Haller will not be available before next year.
MCI vs DOR Predicted Lineups
MCI: Ederson; Joao Cancelo, Ruben Dias, Manuel Akanji, Sergio Gomez; Rodri, De Bruyne, Ikay Gundogan; Bernardo Silva, Erling Haaland, Phil Foden
DOR: Alexander Meyer; Thomas Meunier, Nicolas Sule, Nico Schlotterbeck, Raphael Guerreiro; Salih Ozcan, Jude Bellingham; Julian Brandt, Marco Reus, Gio Reyna; Anthony Modeste
MCI vs DOR Head to Head
These two recently met in the Champions League in the 2020/21 season in the quarterfinal stage. Manchester City won the tie 4-2 aggregate over Borussia Dortmund with the first leg at Etihad resulting in a stellar contest. Kevin de Bruyne gave City the lead in the 19th minute before Jude Bellingham’s equalizer was controversially ruled out for a foul on goalkeeper Ederson. Then for Dortmund, Haaland tested the Brazilian keeper as the Bundesliga side upped the ante in the second half getting their equalizer through their talismanic captain Marco Reus six minutes from time. However, Phil Foden scored in added time in dramatic fashion to restore City’s lead in the tie before they sealed their faith in the return leg at Signal Iduna Park.
MCI vs DOR Dream11 Team Prediction
GK: Ederson
DEF: Cancelo, Dias, Schlotterbeck, Guerreiro
MID: B Silva, Bellingham, De Bruyne, Reus
FW: Haaland, Foden
Captain: Erling Haaland
Vice-captain: Phil Foden
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