Dortmund’s Champions League hopes in the balance ahead of Lille return
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Borussia Dortmund will hope to beat Lille in the last 16 of the Champions League, where they reached the final last season.
PHOTO: AFP
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LILLE – Borussia Dortmund may be relying on continued progress in the Champions League to keep their season alive, but they head to France for the return leg of their last-16 tie against Lille on March 12 with work to do after a 1-1 draw last week.
The Germans are enduring a poor domestic campaign and a 1-0 home defeat against Augsburg at the weekend left them languishing in 10th place in the Bundesliga, seven points adrift of the top four and four points away from any European qualifying spot for next season.
There had been encouraging signs after Niko Kovac was appointed at the end of January to replace the sacked Nuri Sahin, with the new coach leading Dortmund past Portuguese champions Sporting Lisbon in the play-off round.
But they have lost three of their last five matches in the Bundesliga, and the Augsburg setback was hardly ideal preparation for the visit to northern France.
Lille have already beaten Real Madrid at home and put six goals past Feyenoord there as they exceeded expectations in the league phase.
The Ligue 1 side are now dreaming of reaching the quarter-finals of Europe’s elite club competition for the first time.
For Dortmund, meanwhile, an exit at this stage would be a huge step backwards after their 2024 run to the final, which they lost to Real at Wembley.
“I don’t want to paint a bleak picture because of this match,” Kovac said immediately following the loss to Augsburg.
“We played well in the previous two Bundesliga games and in the first half against Lille, so that gives me hope.
“A coach needs to try to find positives, even in defeat.”
Dortmund, who beat Paris Saint-Germain 1-0 in the semi-finals on their last visit to France last season, are without fullback Daniel Svensson after he came off injured late in the first leg.
They will look to Serhou Guirassy to add to the 10 goals he has scored in this season’s Champions League, as the striker once again comes up against the club he represented in the 2015-16 campaign.
Meanwhile, Lille have lost just twice in 20 games in front of their own fans this season, although that does not include a French Cup loss on penalties to second-tier Dunkerque.
This tie could also go all the way to penalties if there is no winner at the end of 90 minutes or extra time – Lille were also knocked out of the Europa Conference League on penalties last season by Aston Villa in the quarter-finals.
Their previous two appearances at this stage of the Champions League ended in elimination, against Manchester United in 2007 and Chelsea in 2022.
In another match, Arsenal will be celebrating progression to the last eight after their second-leg clash at home to PSV Eindhoven – barring a dramatic upset.
The Gunners thrashed their Dutch opponents 7-1 last week, but manager Mikel Arteta will be wary that his team were toothless again when they fought back to draw 1-1 at United in the Premier League last weekend.
Arsenal, though, have won their last four European games at the Emirates Stadium without conceding, so PSV would just be playing for pride. AFP
