Champions League: Westfalenstadion Welcome Awaits Guardiola and City

Borussia Dortmund vs Manchester City

There has been many a night of Champions League highlights in the Westfalenstadion – known to others as Signal Iduna Park – and it is where the hosts, usually cheered on by almost 80,000 ardent followers, love seeing their boys give the opposition a bloodied nose.

For a club which has spent much of its modern life selling its top players, such scalps are now greeted even more sweetly.

So, it could be quite a welcome which awaits Manchester City as they travel to Germany to face Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday night.

It may also be an opportune time to play the side considered by many as favourites to win this season’s tournament.

Talking Points

Both sides warmed up in their domestic leagues in fine fashion on Saturday afternoon.

Talented England youngster Jude Bellingham scored twice as Borussia Dortmund thrashed Stuttgart to move into the Bundesliga top four.

The midfielder, who has been linked with a move to the English champions, started and finished a slick move as Dortmund made a fast start, then curled in a sumptuous fourth soon after the break.

Dortmund led 3-0 at half-time after further strikes from Niklas Sule and Giovanni Reyna, with Youssoufa Moukoko adding a fifth.

There was also a home win for City in the Premier League, although Brighton put up a bit more resistance before eventually going down 3-1.

That was a match which saw the return to the starting XI of Aymeric Laporte, while fellow centre back John Stones was fit enough to be named on the bench and young midfield gem Phil Foden was also among the substitutes.

That really highlighted the strength at the disposition of manager Pep Guardiola who returns to Germany where he had three years managing Dortmund’s rivals Bayern Munich.

Of course, Dortmund have spent more than a decade selling their best players, mainly to Bayern – who they drew with recently – but potentially the player who will turn out to be the biggest name of all was captured by City in the summer.

There was a certain inevitability when Erling Braut Haaland scored a late winner against his former employers in their Champions League meeting in Manchester last month.

Haaland also netted a brace in the weekend victory over Brighton to take his tally to 17 in 11 league games.

While many eyes will again be on the Norwegian, the development of Bellingham, who scored against City in that Etihad Stadium encounter, is being closely tracked by other leading clubs and media alike – and not just because the World Cup is less than a month away.

With City’s place in the last 16 already secured and Dortmund probably requiring only a point to seal their route to the knockout stages, this may not have quite the intensity of the first meeting.

Nevertheless, it should be as entertaining – the sides’ respective styles of play will dictate that.

History

John Stones will aim to produce Champions League highlights as Manchester City face Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League — Manchester City’s John Stones celebrates after scoring against Borussia Dortmund

Before last month’s meeting, which City edged 2-1 thanks to goals from Stones and Haaland, the two sides had met on four the other occasions – all in this tournament and all in the past decade.

The first meeting in October 2012 saw the sides play out a 1-1 draw in Manchester with City needing a last-minute penalty from Mario Balotelli to cancel out a Marco Reus opener.

The return a few months later saw Julian Scheiber score the only goal as City were eliminated at the group stages. Dortmund went onto reach the final.

By the time they next met, the emerging force of City was a full force and they won both legs of the 2021 quarter-final tie.

A 2-1 home success, sealed by Kevin de Bruyne and a last gasp Foden goal, was repeated in Germany with Foden on target again, along with a Riyad Mahrez penalty.