Borussia Dortmund welcome Barcelona to Signal Iduna Park on Wednesday in the UEFA Champions League's biggest clash of the sixth round of games. The highest-ranked meeting of matchday six in the Champions League sees fourth-placed Borussia Dortmund welcome third-placed Barcelona to the Westfalenstadion on Wednesday. The German beaten finalists from last season extended their impressive start to this campaign with an easy win away at Dinamo Zagreb last time out but Bundesliga form has slowed down with consecutive draws.
BVB are sixth in the Bundesliga and off the pace for a UCL berth via the league with Bayern Munich 12 points ahead as leaders. A 100% winning start at home was ended by the Bavarians in a recent draw and Nuri Sahin's men are enjoying playing in front of home support. However, Dortmund are winless in four meetings with Barca and have never faced another continental opponent more often without winning. Spanish opposition have proven problematic for the Germans with Real Madrid already winning 5-2 this season.
Their Catalan visitors have also dropped off the pace a little in La Liga means that they have won just two of their last six games which has tightened things up at the summit in Spain. Early talk of a Spanish and European double for the Blaugrana has died down somewhat with Real and Atletico Madrid closing the gap on Hansi Flick's side of late after losing to Las Palmas at home before three straight away games which included a draw against Real Betis. Barca remain prolific with 37 goals from 13 games on the road across all competitions so far this term with six of those won by three goals or more.
Here are our storylines, how you can watch the match and more:
How to watch and odds
- Date: Wednesday, December 11 | Time: 3 p.m. ET
- Location: Signal Iduna Park - Dortmund, Germany
- Watch: Paramount+
- Odds: Dortmund +225; Draw +280; Barcelona +110
League phase so far
Both sides have 12 points from five games so far and will likely make the round of 16 with a top-eight finish if they can maintain their current pace. Dortmund can win five of their first six Champions League games for the first time since their 1997 title defense with a strong attack being key to their good form. Only Thomas Tuchel and Flick have seen their teams be more prolific in the UCL than Sahin has. Barca are on course for the top eight after losing their opener to AS Monaco and this is the chance to win five consecutive Champions League games for the first time in four years. Attack has been key with at least three goals scored in their four previous victories.
Team news
Dortmund: Niklas Sule has picked up a knock while fellow defender Waldemar Anton is also sidelined. Julian Brandt and Karim Adeyemi are racing to be fit but Maximilian Beier misses out. Gio Reyna is in improving health but is unlikely to feature too heavily here.
Possible Dortmund XI: Kobel; Ryerson, Can, Schlotterbeck, Bensebaini; Sabitzer, Nmecha, Gross; Malen, Guirassy, Gittens.
Barca: Andreas Christensen, Marc Bernal and Ansu Fati are all out but Ronald Araujo is returning to fitness. Ferran Torres is back and scoring but unlikely to start while Raphinha and Lamine Yamal will flank Robert Lewandowski. Marc-Andre ter Stegen's injury means Inaki Pena stays in goal ahead of Wojciech Szczesny who joined mid-season.
Possible Barca XI: Inaki Pena; Kounde, Cubarsi, Inigo Martinez, Balde; Pedri, De Jong; Yamal, Dani Olmo, Raphinha; Lewandowski.
Prediction
This one should be entertaining and the form book suggests that a score draw might be the most likely outcome given BVB's home form and Barca's equally lethal attacking prowess. Pick: Dortmund 1, Barca 1.
