143 days ago, Real Madrid once again pushed the boundaries and further solidified its position as the best football club in the world, defeating Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League final to win its 15th European title. Tonight, the German club will try to get some measure of revenge for that loss when they visit the Santiago Bernabéu in the 3rd round of the Champions League. Heading into this round, Dortmund is the best of the 36 teams in the elite competition. They defeated Club Brugge 3-0 and Celtic 7-1, giving them by far the best goal difference of all seven teams that are still unbeaten. Real Madrid is not among them. Their troubles this season were evident in their match against Lille in France 20 days ago. ‘The Dogs’ defeated Carlo Ancelotti’s side 1-0, marking their fourth slip-up in away games since the start of the season.Real Madrid 🆚 Borussia Dortmund in trophies 😅⚪️🟡 pic.twitter.com/4zx9lIGDU8— OneFootball (@OneFootball) October 22, 2024 However, at home, Real Madrid has been phenomenal. They are probably one of the strongest ‘home’ teams in Europe this year, having not lost a single game at the Bernabéu in 2024. They have 16 wins and four draws in all competitions, with eight of those victories coming by two or more goals. A lot has changed in both teams since the final. A little less in the winning team—starting players from Wembley like Toni Kroos have retired, Nacho Fernandez has moved to the Arab world, as did backup striker Joselu. In their place, Kylian Mbappé and Endrick have arrived to refresh the attack. Both have already scored their first goals in the Champions League, in a 3-1 win against Stuttgart.Carlo and a Swiss fashion model both talk about MbappeDortmund, on the other hand, has completely rebuilt its squad. First and foremost, coach Edin Terzić has left and was replaced by his assistant Nuri Şahin. From the starting lineup in the final, Niklas Füllkrug and Mats Hummels no longer wear the yellow-black jersey, nor do Marco Reus and Sébastien Haller, who came off the bench back then. The ‘Millionaires’ have rejuvenated the team a bit, signing Maximilian Beier, Waldemar Anton, Serhou Guirassy, Pascal Groß, and Yan Couto. These transfers cost them exactly 80 million euros. However, while their Champions League results are excellent, Borussia has been struggling to get it together in the Bundesliga, especially in away games, where they’ve managed just one point from three matches. They drew 0-0 with Werder Bremen, then lost 5-1 to Stuttgart and 2-1 to Union Berlin. The sample size is small, but it clearly shows that Şahin’s team has problems when they don’t have the famous Yellow Wall behind them. The Turkish coach has stirred up the Spanish media by deciding that his team will not conduct a single training session before the match in Madrid.It’s hard to say who’s the best, but we know who earns the mostThere was speculation that this was because the Germans didn’t want Ancelotti’s staff spying on them, but Şahin explained that this wasn’t the case.’I’ve heard the rumors, but that’s not the reason. The entire team trained very effectively in Germany, and given that we had a two-hour flight, I didn’t see the point in adding extra strain with a training session. We’ve prepared a strategy, not just for Mbappé and Vinícius, but for the entire Real Madrid squad. Our goal is to neutralize their biggest threats and to impose our game on the pitch” he said.Dortmund struggle with form ahead of the Champions League final rematchThis will be the 14th competitive match between Real Madrid and Borussia this century. Naturally, all of them have been in the Champions League, with the Spanish team leading with 6 wins to 3. They have drawn four times. The last three meetings have gone in favor of the Royal Club, and of course, the one from 143 days ago was the most important of them all.UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE – ROUND 3Tuesday19:45: (1.45) AC Milan (4.40) Club Brugge (7.25)19:45: (1.40) Monaco (5.30) Crvena Zvezda (8.00)22:00: (1.10) Arsenal (11.0) Shakhtar (18.0)22:00: (1.62) Aston Villa (3.80) Bologna (5.80)22:00: (1.20) Girona (8.00) Slovan B. (14.0)22:00: (1.87) Juventus (3.50) Stuttgart (4.20)22:00: (1.45) PSG (4.50) PSV (7.00)22:00: (1.50) Real Madrid (4.40) Dortmund (6.50)22:00: (8.00) Sturm (4.70) Sporting (1.40)Wednesday19:45: (1.45) Atalanta (4.50) Celtic (7.00)19:45: (6.25) Brest (4.70) Leverkusen (1.48)22:00: (1.53) Atl.Madrid (4.00) Lille (6.75)22:00: (2.40) Barcelona (3.60) Bayern (2.80)22:00: (1.62) Benfica (3.90) Feyenoord (5.60)22:00: (1.07) Man.City (13.0) Sparta Praha (25.0)22:00: (4.00) RB Leipzig (3.60) Liverpool (1.90)22:00: (1.75) Salzburg (3.60) Dinamo Zagreb (4.90)22:00: (8.00) Young Boys (4.70) Inter Milan (1.40)***odds are subject to change***
