Borussia Dortmund host Atletico Madrid in the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final tie on Tuesday as they look to draw inspiration from their fortress at the Westfalenstadion to overturn a 2-1 deficit. Dortmund, champions in 1997 and finalists in 2013, somehow managed to win despite a poor start in Madrid, with Edin Terzic’s side trailing by two goals after 30 minutes. A chance to return to the semifinals. Dortmund were composed and were arguably the better team for the remaining 60 minutes, but will regret having twice allowed Atletico the upper hand despite Sebastien Haller’s crucial goal A farcical defensive error.

As always, Dortmund’s trump card is the 80,000-capacity Westfalenstadion – the largest stadium in Germany and one of the largest in European football.

The club has never lost here since November 2021 and has previously faced teams such as Manchester City, Chelsea, AC Milan, Paris Saint-Germain and Newcastle.

Dortmund is strong in Europe

Despite a poor domestic season, with the Champions League regulars currently out of the top four and fighting for qualification for next season, Dortmund have impressed in Europe.

Dortmund were at risk of being relegated to the Europa League or worse, but they emerged from a tough group of Paris Saint-Germain, Milan and Newcastle.

The centerpiece of their Champions League performance is the Westfalenstadion, which is particularly formidable on a European night.

The striker moved to Dortmund in the summer of 2022, who have gone nine games unbeaten at home since losing to Haller-inspired Ajax in November 2021.

Dortmund scored 15 goals and conceded only 2 goals during this period, showing their home strength on the European stage.

Although often unpredictable, Dortmund have been defensively solid under Terzic this season – that is, until they scored two goals at the Wanda Metropolitano last Wednesday to put Atletico in pole position.

Centre-back Nico Schloterback had a particularly poor performance against Atletico, while Mats Hummels, who has excelled in Europe so far this season, also failed to impress.

Schlotterbeck and Mats Hummels, as well as 2020 Champions League winner Niklas Suele, are hoping to return to Julian Nagelsmann’s Germany ahead of Euro 2024.

Dortmund will be buoyed by Atletico’s poor performance away from home at the Metropolitan Stadium this season.

Diego Simeone’s side have won just five of 15 league games. Atletico have won just one of four games in Europe this season and have not kept a clean sheet away from home.

Not easy to hurt your eyes?

The last time the two sides met in Germany was in the 2018-19 season, when Dortmund defeated Atletico Madrid 4-0.

Current Atletico midfielder Axel Witsel opened the scoring, while Sancho, who returned to Borussia Dortmund on loan from Manchester United this season, added another.

Under Lucian Favre at the time, Dortmund were a more open and attacking team, similar to the best periods of Jurgen Klopp and Thomas Tuchel’s tenures.

Today’s Dortmund, albeit less spectacular under Terzic, possess a similar fighting spirit to Simeone’s best Atletico teams.

Saturday’s hard-fought 2-1 win away to Monchengladbach in the Bundesliga proved that.

Terzic’s Dortmund held on to a one-goal lead after Karim Adeyemi was sent off with 35 minutes remaining, reducing the team to 10 men. , and finally won the key victory in the battle for the top four.

If Dortmund are to overtake Atletico Madrid and reach the Champions League semi-finals for the fourth time in their history, they will need to show steely fortitude – against a team known for mastering these special skills under Simeone.

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