Dortmund Match Preview: BVB must beat Prague for shot at UCL knockout round

It’s the last game of the UEFA Champions league group stage as Dortmund play Slavia Prague. Dortmund currently are 3rd with 7 points down on tie breaker to Inter Milan. BVB need to but perform Inter on points or they cannot advance in the group stage since we are down on head to head goal difference. Its not a great feeling being in a last game situation not in control of your fate(although last time we were in this situation Bayer Leverkusen saved us with their ineptitude.) Axel Witsel and Thomas Delaney will not be fit for the game today.

Dortmund need to be aggressive today. While our game could be over quick if Inter dominate Barca, BVB need to focus on three points for their best chances. The 3-4-3 is obviously the best game plan after what we saw against Dusseldorf. Zagadou-Akanji-Hummels is the most probable backline. Hummels didn’t play over the weekend and things went great, this game will be an important test to see if Hummels fits into that 3-4-3 setup. Brandt has to play centrally from now on after Fortuna so I’d expect to see Favre play him there. Since we are missing both Witsel and Delaney, Dahoud or Weigl will be his partner centrally. Brandt repeating his performance and Hummels fitting in are crucial to proving the success from the weekend is something we can count on consistently this season. I’d expect Reus, Sancho and Hazard to be our front three with Reus or Hazard up top. All three played well and hopefully are in high spirits. The other two midfielders should be 2 of Raph, Piz and Hakimi. Hakimi has been good in UCL play and saved us against Prague so I hope we see more of him.

Last time we played Prague they managed to get 16 shots of on us and maintain 49% possession. We won 2-0 thanks to Hakimi dragging the team along with a brace. We can’t be so passive against Prague this time around. Prague have nothing to play for but pride so I would expect them to throw many forward to start the game. Hopefully Favre instructs the team to play more conservatively and tire Prague out a bit before opening things up. A early goal could stop all of the momentum we have coming in from the weekend.

What do you think the best lineup is for today? What do you think the result will be?