"It's probably one of the hardest things in football to win against an Italian team when they only need a draw," Jurgen Klopp mused in his Tuesday news conference ahead of Wednesday's Champions League round-of-16 return leg vs. Juventus. The difficulty of the task of going through is enormous for Borussia Dortmund, who need just a 1-0 win after grabbing a vital away goal in Turin, but that's not as easy as it sounds
BVB's past two Bundesliga matches have demonstrated they have a very hard time breaking down tight defences while being prone to counter-attacks. Hamburg and Cologne are mediocre Bundesliga teams; on Wednesday night it won't be a mediocre German team but the Italian champions-elect, who hold a 14-point advantage over second-placed Roma in Serie A. Thus, Juventus will care little about their next domestic match, and will put their entire focus and energy into this tie.
After all, the Italian giants are desperate for success on the European stage after recent disappointing European campaigns. It would be a major dent in their season if their Champions League aspirations were to end in Dortmund.
Juve arrive at the Westfalenstadion without Andrea Pirlo, but that won't hinder them from lining up in a defensive 5-3-2 formation with a midfield block of Arturo Vidal, Claudio Marchisio and Paul Pogba ahead of their defence. Massimo Allegri told the media on Tuesday, "We will look to restrain BVB from using their speed." Every Dortmund fan will know exactly what that means: a tightly woven net in front of Gigi Buffon.
Borussia Dortmund will have to be very creative in order to break down their opponents without falling on their sword. It will be very important for the Germans to find the right balance. It will be a blow to miss Nuri Sahin in central midfield, as he would have given his side an edge to create opportunities -- it is no coincidence that BVB were completely uninspired up front ever since Sahin was sidelined with a niggling muscle injury. After the trouncing of their derby rivals Schalke, in which Dortmund created chances aplenty, they haven't found the net.
At least Klopp will have a bit more physicality in midfield with Sven Bender, who often throws himself in every tackle without thinking twice. Bender's inclusion will be vital as the first leg demonstrated that Juve like to use their physical strength just as much as their technical abilities.
Bender, who is an expert in regaining possession, will have his hands full in breaking down Juventus' counter-attacks. Of course it won't be a match of attack vs. defence with Dortmund in full control over the entire 90 minutes, but the two goals they conceded in the first leg came from counter attacks. It will be Benders job to to gather up the ball before Carlos Tevez or Alvaro Morata do.
Bender alone won't make much of a difference, though. The entire team will need to play at their limit to have a chance to go through. Ilkay Gundogan especially will need to play his best after he had "Sorry, I'm a winner" etched on his boots.
It remains to be seen who Gundogan will be providing service to, as it's still a tough guess who Klopp will field in his front four. Marco Reus is set, everything else is left up to interpretation.
Will Ciro Immobile feature? Given that Juventus won't offer much space for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to run into, it might make sense to opt for the Italian -- even if he looked terribly isolated in the first leg. Will Klopp go for the light feet of Shinji Kagawa and Henrikh Mkhitaryan, or will he go for the more industrious Jakub Blaszczykowski and Kevin Kampl?
In Dortmund, everyone is looking forward to the clash, especially considering it might be the last for a while. Overcoming Juventus would be a huge highlight in an otherwise disappointing season. Extending the Champions League campaign for a little while longer would be an even greater reward for the entire club.
Stefan Buczko writes about Dortmund and is a co-host of the English-speaking BVB podcast The Yellowwallpod. Follow him on Twitter @bvbawesome.
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