Champions League Betting – Real Visit Dortmund
Real Madrid (+150) at Borussia Dortmund (+175), Draw (+229)
Tomorrow, two offensive dynamos will meet in a pivotal clash that could determine the fate Group F as Real Madrid (1-0-0, 3 pts) head to Germany to face Borussia Dortmund (1-0-0, 3 pts) at Signal-Iduna-Park (Tuesday, Sep. 27, at 2:45 PM Eastern).
It would be a massive understatement to say that Dortmund have found their offensive mojo of late. Since dropping a 1-0 decision to Leipzig in Bundesliga action, the team has rattled off four straight wins in all competitions, outscoring their opponents 20-2. That includes a 6-0 demolition of Legia in their first UCL match. That win was their biggest away victory of all time in a UEFA competition.
Not only did Dortmund see six different players notch tallies against Legia, but 12 players have contributed in the last four games.
Their last domestic game was a 3-1 victory over Freiburg. With the win, Dortmund matched their club record of 24 home Bundesliga fixtures without a loss. They’re now second in the table with 12 points in five games, three back of Bayern Munich.
Real Madrid are on top of La Liga with 14 points through six matches, but they got a huge scare from Sporting Lisbon in their first UCL fixture. Down 1-0 late, Cristiano Ronaldo (89) and Álvaro Morata (90+4) both scored in the dying minutes to pick up a crucial three points at home.
They only managed a point in their last domestic fixture, however, playing Las Palmas to a 1-1 away draw on Saturday.
Real were decent on the road in last year’s competition, going 3-2-1 overall. But they have been just dreadful in Dortmund in their history, and in Germany, generally. They’re a brutal 4-6-19 in 29 all-time matches in Germany and they’ve lost four straight at Dortmund.
Those trends date back a long time, you have to remember. The current iteration of the team is unbeaten in its last 19 fixtures (all competitions), dating back to their 2-0 loss at Wolfsburg in the first leg of last season’s UCL quarterfinals.
While their record in Germany is concerning, the reigning European champs should be able to must a point on the road.
Pick: Draw (+229).
Photo credit: RCuerda29 (flickr) [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/legalcode].
Zack is a tour guide whose favorite sports are football, baseball, and golf. He enjoys giving obnoxious commentary during games and hopes to some day write a book about sports. His favorite underdog victory was the Diamondbacks beating the Yankees in game 7 of the World Series.
