Newcastle United will face their Champions League opponents on the back of a difficult domestic result – just as they did in Milan last time out.
It wasn’t a local derby for Borussia Dortmund at the weekend but the clash of the titans against Bayern Munich – or De Klassieker as it is known in Germany – holds just as much significance. And Dortmund’s record against Bayern is awful with just one draw and 10 defeats in the last 11 matches.
A brutal headline over the weekend in Bild read: “Submissive and no chance” as Dortmund were steamrollered 4-0 at home with Harry Kane grabbing a hat-trick. It was a result that can only give Newcastle more encouragement as they look to steal three points in Dortmund on the back of wins over Man United and Arsenal back home.
Dortmund coach Edin Terzic simply said: “Bayern was superior to us in all areas.” It puts a different reflection on the game on Tuesday just a fortnight after Newcastle lost 1-0 in a narrow defeat.
Terzic said in Bild this morning: “The first leg in Newcastle was the benchmark.” “We know their qualities. “We found out two weeks ago how good they are.
“Newcastle came out of the starting blocks exactly as we expected: very brave, very aggressive, pressed very high. “Nevertheless, we resisted from the start. We played a really great game in the first half, both offensively and defensively.”
The local paper Waz focuses heavily on what is deemed a crisis at Dortmund with a headline of: “Back to tipping point”. This comes after that 4-0 thrashing against Bayern.
And Andres Ernst, the local Dortmund writer, says that doing well in Europe is: “Too ambitious for Dortmund.”
Meanwhile, Westfalische Rundschau go in hard on their team with one report centring around the fact that many Dortmund fans left early against Bayern in protest. There’s no doubt that Dortmund’s famous atmosphere will be breathtaking tonight but there is a feeling that fans are from happy here.
Finally it would not be a European paper round up without a look at the predicted team for tonight. Westfalische Rundschau go with Nick Pope in goal, Tino Livramento, Jamaal Lascelles, Fabian Schar and Kieran Trippier across the back four with the England man at left-back.
Sean Longstaff, Bruno Guimaraes and Joelinton are the three midfielders predicted and Miguel Almiron, Callum Wilson an Anthony Gordon are in attack.
Leave a Reply