Real Madrid v Borussia Dortmund: Champions League match preview

A look ahead to Wednesday night’s quarter-final first leg fixture at Santiago Bernabeu

Borussia Dortmund's Robert Lewandowski celebrates after scoring a goal against Zenit Saint Petersburg during their UEFA Champions League Champions League last 16, first-leg football match (GETTY IMAGES)

These sides should be familiar enough with each other - after all, they met at the semi-final stage in last season’s competition. It was Dortmund that progressed to the final, surviving a tense final few minutes at the Bernabeu after Robert Lewandowski’s brilliance had set up a 4-1 first-leg win.

Plenty has changed since then. Carlo Ancelotti, Gareth Bale and Isco are among those to have joined Madrid while Dortmund have sold Mario Gotze to Bayern Munich and have suffered with injuries for large chunks of the 2013/14 campaign.

Under Ancelotti, Real embarked on a 31-match unbeaten run in all competitions between October 13 and March 23. Recent back-to-back defeats against Barcelona and Sevilla have disrupted that momentum somewhat but they are unbeaten in the Champions League since the defeat at Signal Iduna Park and eased past Dortmund’s rivals Schalke 04 to reach the last eight.

Jurgen Klopp’s side have seen the gap between themselves and runaway league-leaders Bayern Munich grow this season and left it late to qualify from a difficult group which included Napoli and Arsenal. A 5-4 aggregate victory against Zenit St Petersburg in the last 16 followed but Real will provide a much sterner test.

Cristiano Ronaldo of Real Madrid lies on the ground after being tackled during the La Liga defeat to Sevilla (GETTY IMAGES)

KICK-OFF: Wednesday, 7.45pm

PAST THREE MEETINGS:

Real Madrid 2 (Benzema, Ramos) Dortmund 0, Champions League, April 30, 2013

Dortmund 4 (Lewandowski 4) Real Madrid 1 (Ronaldo), Champions League, April 23, 2013

Real Madrid 2 (Pepe, Ozil) Dortmund 2 (Reus, Arbeloa og), Champions League, November 2012

STATS…

Cristiano Ronaldo is the top scorer in the Champions League this season (13).

Real have won only one of the last five games between the teams.

Carlo Ancelotti’s side went 31 games unbeaten in all competitions earlier in the season.

Dortmund have scored in 10 of their last 12 Champions League games - with Real one of the sides to have kept a clean sheet against Jurgen Klopp’s team.

ODDS…

Real Madrid to win: 1.36

Dortmund to win: 8.00

Draw: 5.00

CLASSIC MATCH…

Borussia Dortmund 4-1 Real Madrid, April 24, 2013

Robert Lewandowski was simply sensational when the teams met in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final last season. The Pole caused Madrid’s backline problems all evening - giving Dortmund an early lead and then scoring three times in 11 second-half minutes. The performance - one of the most memorable in last season’s competition - went a long way to sealing Dortmund’s first appearance in a Champions League final since 1997.

TV: Live on Sky Sports 4 at 7.45pm.