Revenge will be on the mind of Real Madrid when they host Borussia Dortmund in the first leg of their Champions League quarterfinal at the Bernabeu on Wednesday.
Where to Watch Live
The quarterfinal is scheduled for an 8.45 pm local time (7.45 pm BST, 12.15 am IST, 2.45 pm ET) start with live coverage on Ten Action and Ten HD in India, Sky Sports 4 in the UK and Fox Sports in the US.
Catch the action via live streaming online in India HERE, while Latin America viewers can go HERE. Viewers in Australia can live stream the game HERE,with the UK option HERE. US viewers can catch the action courtesy live streaming HERE, with the option in Canada to watch the game live onlineHERE. Audience in the Middle East and North Africa can watch the match live online HERE, while South Africa and Sub Saharan Africa viewers can go HERE.
Dortumund ended Real's La Decima dreams in the semifinals last season, beating the Spanish giants 4-3 on aggregate, after a 4-1 thumping in the first leg, courtesy a Robert Lewandowski hat-trick, proved to be enough to take them through,
With a different manager, Real, who have constantly come up against Dortmund much to their detriment in recent seasons, will aim for a better result, with the tie hinging on the first leg.
"I watched the games [from last season] and they were very strange because in the first leg Real Madrid controlled things well in the first half, but then what happened in the second half was just incredible," Real manager Carlo Ancelotti, who was in the PSG dugout at the time, said.
"After that a comeback was always going to be difficult because it isn't easy to score three goals against a team like Borussia. That's the Champions League for you."
Dortmund are not having the greatest of seasons, with Bayern Munich running away with the Bundesliga title, while Jurgen Klopp has had to deal with a debilitating injury list, which has in turn hurt them on all fronts.
But despite all the problems, they still remain very much in the Champions League, and will head into the first leg at the Bernabeu, knowing an away goal will keep them in the hunt for another upset.
"I'm not a magician but we have had to get over much adversity this season," Dortmund manager Jurgen Klopp said. "I have very good players and my duty is to make them better, and so far we've done that very well. Our players that don't feature in every game are going to grow up in this match.
"Playing the second leg at home may be a slight advantage but I fear Madrid trying to settle the tie here. I have seen many of their games and they never finish a match without one scoring opportunity. They have incredible quality and we can't ignore that. If we play our game and keep our heads up, we will have chances.
"Real Madrid are more flexible now. The speed of their game is amazing. Barcelona, Madrid and Bayern are the best. We have to keep on evolving. Last year we were a barrier for Madrid and we are going to try to do that again.
"This stadium is amazing and we are going to need 'cojones'. Madrid are favourites but they've also had their problems this season."
The problems, chiefly, have come in the last couple of weeks, with Real losing a typically bad-tempered El Clasico to Barcelona and then suffering a second straight defeat in the La Liga at the hands of Sevilla, which has put them third in the table, when at one point they looked nailed-on favourites for the Spanish League title.
Real bounced back from the two defeats with a comfortable win at the weekend against Rayo Vallecano, with Gareth Bale scoring a stunning goal, even if their talisman Cristiano Ronaldo, who has a brilliant 13 goals in the Champions League this season, was sensationally booed by his own fans.
"We lost two games, but we have to bounce back from that quickly," Real midfielder Luka Modric said. "We have to be united, remain confident and continue playing as we have been throughout the season. These two defeats shouldn't erase all the good work that came before them. We are alive in all three competitions and are not going to give up on any of them."
Team news: Real Madrid: Marcelo is expected to miss both legs of the quarterfinal after suffering a hamstring injury, with Fabio Coentrao, who has little game time of late, likely to fill in, with Nacho and Sergio Ramos also a possibility. Sami Khedira, Alvaro Arbeloa and Jese Rodriguez remain sidelined.
Borussia Dortmund: Klopp is already dealing with several injuries to his key players as Sven Bender, Jakub Blaszczykowski, Ilkay Gundogan, Marcel Schmelzer and Neven Subotic remain ruled out, with Robert Lewandowski, the hero of the semifinal tie against Real last season, also set to miss through suspension.
Expected lineups: Real Madrid: Casillas; Carvajal, Ramos, Pepe, Coentrao; Modric, Alonso, Di Maria; Bale, Benzema, Ronaldo.
Borussia Dortmund: Weidenfeller; Piszczek; Hummels, Sokratis, Durm; Sahin, Kehl, Groskreutz; Mkhitaryan, Aubameyang, Reus.
