Everyone loves a football underdog story and with memories of Erik Ten Hag’s 2018/2019 Ajax, country folks PSV Eindhoven can draw some inspiration. Ajax knocked out Real Madrid in the round of 16, Cristiano Ronaldo’s Juventus in the quarter-finals, and sadly got stopped in their tracks by Mauricio Pochettino’s Tottenham in the semi-finals courtesy of a Lucas Moura hat-trick.
PSV have come into this season with even a form more endearing than that Ajax side in their league exploits. Rounding up the first half of the 2023/2024 season without dropping points in any of their 16 games(48/48 points), 10 points ahead of next-placed Feyenoord. Winning all of it, scoring 56 and conceding just 6.
In their UCL group stage campaign, their fine form has continued but could only see them settle for second place behind Mikel Arteta’s more than revamped Arsenal, a side that thrashed them 4-0 with goals from Bukayo Saka, Leandro Trossard, Gabriel Jesus and Martin Odegaard. They earned a point in the return leg at Eindhoven through Yorbe Vertessen’s strike.
Their best outing on the stage was the 3-2 victory over Sevilla in Spain. Going down 2 goals in the 47th minute, they staged a remarkable 3-2 comeback as Lucas Ocampos got red carded, scoring a minute later through Ismael Saibiri and adding a further two in the 81st minute via a Nemanja Gudelj own goal and a Ricardo Pepi 92nd minute winner. The departures of Cody Gakpo in the last winter window to Liverpool and Xavi Simons as PSG reactivated his buyback clause have not put them down in any way so far.
Borussia Dortmund’s journey in this tournament mostly ends in the knockout phases. With this year’s final scheduled for Wembley stadium, and the German outfit’s last final appearance coming in the 2013 final when they lost to Jupp Heyneckes Bayern Munich side via Arjen Robben’s 89th manager after Ilkay Gundogan’s penalty had canceled out Mario Mandzukuic’s opener against Jurgen Klopp’s men.
Die Schwarzgelben has history in the tournament having won the 1996/1997 edition under Ottmar Hitzfield when they edged out then holders Juventus in the final on familiar territory in Munich.
Borussia Dortmund finished top of their dramatic “group of death” in the first round of the qualification stages. The group featuring Paris Saint-Germain, Newcastle United, and AC Milan saw the German side finish first despite losing their first game to Paris Saint-Germain via Kylian Mbappe’s penalty and Achraf Hakimi’s second. Edin Terzic still managed to settle for only a goalless draw in their second group game against AC Milan before opening their account with 3 wins in a row against Newcastle United (0-1, 2-0 across both legs) and a 3-0 victory over AC Milan in the return leg with goals from Marco Reus, Jamie Bynoe-Gittens and Karim Adeyemi nullifying Samuel Chukwueze’s 37th-minute equalizer. They finally finished their campaign with a 1-1 draw with Paris Saint-Germain in Dortmund.
PSV Eindhoven and Borussia Dortmund have recorded only one outing between the sides, ending in a full-time draw. The two legs will serve as a chance for either side to establish their advantage over the other.
Match Tickets
The first leg Champions League affair between PSV Eindhoven and Borussia Dortmund will be held at the Philips Stadion in the Netherlands on Tuesday, 20th February 2024, 21:00:00 GMT, with the return leg scheduled for the Signal Iduna Park, Dortmund, Germany on Wednesday, the 13th of March, 2024. PSV vs Borussia Dortmund tickets are available on the official ticketing portal on the UEFA website.
Team News
Line ups
Following the departures of Xavi Simons and Cody Gakpo, gaffer Peter Bosz has properly strengthened his squad in addition to the available contingent. Ricardo Pepi, Hirving “Chucky” Lozano, Patrick Van Aanholt, Armel Bella-Kotchap, and Sergino Dest have all come in to push the Eindhoven-based outfit as heavyweights in their domestic league and will certainly hope they can be more than helpful in their continental exploits.
Johan Bakayoko earmarked as one of the heirs to Mo Salah‘s throne and Malik Tillman has started the season strong and will support Dutch talisman Luuk De Jong spearheading the attack.
In midfield, Ismail Saibari, Joey Veerman, and Guus Til now have the reigns following the departure of Ivorian workhouse Ibrahim Sangare to English side Nottingham Forest.
PSV XI – Benitez; Dest, Boscagli, Schoutem, Teze; Saibari, Veerman, Til; Tillman, De Jong, Bakayoko.
Norwegian full-back Julian Ryerson is a significant worry as he continues to work his way back from the media collateral ligament injury he sustained earlier in 2023. Karim Adeyemi and Youssoufa Moukoko are expected to be fully fit ahead of the return leg.
Forward Marco Reus captain who relinquished his captain duties at the club over the summer after almost 6 years of leading the club, will lead the charge up top from Dortmund with company from Niclas Fullkrug, Donyell Malen who has now picked up the form he was accustomed to at his former side PSV Eindhoven and with a return on the books, he’ll undoubtedly look to craft something against his old team.
Borussia Dortmund XI – Kobel; Meunier, Hummels, Schlotterbeck, Bensebaini; Sabitzer, Can; Malen, Reus, Brandt; Fullkrug.
Prediction
This tie is open to both sides and up there for the taking. PSV is high on form, and Borussia Dortmund looking to recreate their 2012/2013 run, will go all out to progress to the quarter-finals.
PSV 1-3 Borussia Dortmund
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