UEFA Champions League football continues to deliver thrilling action and the pick of the bunch on Wednesday evening sees Manchester City take on Borussia Dortmund.
These two teams last shared a Champions League group in 2012 and since then things have changed significantly for both parties. At the time, Man City and Dortmund were both reigning champions of their domestic leagues and were managed by Roberto Mancini and Jürgen Klopp, respectively. The current Liverpool boss oversaw his yellow army take four points from the blues of Manchester with a 1-1 away draw before a 1-0 win in Germany.
The most recent encounter(s) between City and Dortmund came at the quarter-final stage in the season before last, when City won 2-1 home and away on their way to achieving the club’s first Champions League final appearance.
One thing these clubs can relate on is a mutual affinity for Erling Haaland. The 22-year-old forward completed a move away from Dortmund this summer after the Citizens activated his €60million release clause and he didn’t have to think twice about joining the Premier League champions, following in the footsteps of his father, Alf Inge Haaland, who spent three seasons at Maine Road from 2000 until 2003.
Last week Erling scored twice against Sevilla to become the fastest player to reach 25 goals in the Champions League, taking just 20 matches to do so. The 6ft4 striker has also set the Premier League alight, notching 10 goals from his first six games in the English top flight. Haaland is the first Man City player to score on both his Premier League debut and Champions League debut for the club.
Now, Haaland faces his ex-teammates for the first time since leaving Dortmund and there is no doubt he will be aiming to make his former club his latest victim. The Norwegian attacker netted 86 goals in 89 appearances for Dortmund, including an impressive 15 goals in 13 Champions League outings which equivalates to a goal every 72 minutes.
Haaland 🆚 Dortmund
⌛️🔜#UCL pic.twitter.com/Bk7gsSAM0H
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) September 14, 2022
City manager Pep Guardiola confirmed his side have been boosted by the return of John Stones who missed their Group G opener at Sevilla last week, but fellow defenders Kyle Walker and Aymeric Laporte remain sidelined.
Dortmund boss Edin Terzić is hopeful that forwards Donyell Malen and Karim Adeyemi will be in contention for the clash at the Etihad Stadium.
Bet365 have Haaland at 3.20 to score the first goal this evening, and 1.50 for him to score any time during the match. Man City is priced 1.20 to win, Dortmund 12.00 to win, and 7.00 for a draw.
Kick-off is at 21:00 CET on Wednesday.
Phenomenal from Erling Haaland 😮💨#UCL pic.twitter.com/eAh1GcxqFh
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) September 8, 2022
