Borussia Dortmund vs Atletico Madrid: Preview, Prediction & Betting Tips

A place in the Champions League semi-finals is at stake, as Borussia Dortmund welcome Atletico Madrid to Germany looking to overcome a narrow first leg deficit.

Date: 16/04/24

Kick-off time: 20:00

Venue: Signal Iduna Park

Atletico Madrid are looking to advance to the semi-finals of the competition for the first time since 2016/17, which was the season after they had made the final. They already have one foot in the next stage of this year’s tournament following their 2-1 first leg win in Madrid. The hosts took advantage of a very early error by Ian Maatsen to go ahead through Rodrigo De Paul who pounced. The lead was doubled after another defensive mishap at the back, as Antoine Griezmann found Samuel Lino, who expertly slotted the ball past the onrushing goalkeeper. Dortmund scored a crucial goal to halve the deficit heading into the second leg to give them more than a fighting chance. It came from Sebastian Haller out of nowhere, as he clinically put away his opportunity. Dortmund keeper Gregor Kobel had kept them in the game with some huge saves.

Away from home in the Champions League, Diego Simeone’s side have not enjoyed huge success, with just one win which came against Feyenoord in the group stages. Their only loss was in the Round of 16 at Inter Milan that ended in a 1-0 defeat, though they were able to comeback. In contrast, Dortmund are unbeaten at home, though two of the four games ended in draws, which would not be enough for them to advance to the semi-finals this time.

If the Germans are to overturn the deficit, they will hope to get past a defence who has not kept a clean sheet in their last 10 games in all competitions. Niclas Fullkrug is their top scorer with 12 on the season, whilst Donyell Malen has also had a good campaign. Atletico have some serious offensive threats of their own with Griezmann the competition’s second top scorer with six, and Alvaro Morata is not far behind with five. In four Champions League away games, the Spaniards have scored six goals.

Borussia Dortmund

Dortmund have no new injuries to contend with and should have a mostly fully fit squad to choose from. The only absentee is Ramy Bensebaini who is out with a knee injury.

Atletico Madrid

Samuel Lino will miss the game through suspension after an accumulation of yellow cards. They have no new injury concerns, with Memphis Depay set to return later this month.

Borussia Dortmund

In their last five games, Borussia Dortmund have won three and lost two. It has been a mixed run of form for Dortmund with some big wins but also disappointing defeats. They did win win their most recent game, though, as they managed to hold on to a 2-1 win against Borussia Monchengladbach despite being reduced to 10 men. All the goals came in the first half as Marcel Sabitzer scored a brace, including one from the penalty spot, before Maximilian Wober pulled one back. Karim Adeyemi got sent off shortly after the restart, but his dismissal did not affect the final result.

This followed European action against Atletico Madrid, as they travelled to Spain for the first leg of the quarter-finals. They were defeated 2-1, but picked up a crucial goal through Sebastien Haller to keep themselves well in the tie heading back home.

A home defeat to Stuttgart preceded this. Despite enjoying more possession and attempts, the hosts could not find a breakthrough. Instead, Stuttgart found the winner with under half an hour to play as Serhou Guirassy found the net. It meant they were unable to carry any momentum over from their Der Klassiker win against Bayern Munich. They travelled to the Allianz Arena and came away with a 2-0 win thanks to goals from Adeyemi and Julian Ryerson. The first game of this stretch was a 3-1 win over Eintracht Frankfurt. Mario Gotze opened the scoring for the visitors, but this was cancelled out by Adeyemi. Late goals from Mats Hummels and Emre Can secured the win.

Atletico Madrid

In their last five games, Atletico Madrid have won four and lost one. It has been a good stretch, with just a single defeat and also multiple victories in the Champions League. They ensured progression to the quarter-finals of the competition with a 3-2 penalty shootout win over Inter Milan. The second leg ended 2-1 in Atletico’s favour, as they recovered from a Federico DiMarco opener with strikes from Antoine Griezmann and Memphis Depay to equalise on aggregate 2-2.

They returned to La Liga with a home fixture against rivals Barcelona, in which they were crushed 3-0. Atletico loanee Joao Felix, Robert Lewandowski and Fermin Lopez were all on the scoresheet. It was a good response in their next game as they won 2-1 away at Villarreal. Axel Witsel broke the deadlock early, but Alexander Sorloth found the leveller. Saul Niguez scored in the 87th minute to win it. Focus shifted back to European action it’s their first leg against Borussia Dortmund in the quarter-finals. They take a slender 2-1 lead into the second leg in Germany. It was a quick start for the Spaniards as Rodrigo De Paul put them ahead after just four minutes. Their control on the game strengthened before the break with Samuel Lino doubling their advantage. They were close to taking a comfortable cushion to Germany, but Sebastian Haller pulled one back with 10 minutes to go to halve the deficit and keep them well in the tie.

Their most recent game was a 3-1 victory over top four rivals Girona at home. The visitors went ahead after minutes through Artem Dovbyk, but goals from Griezmann (x2) and Angel Correa turned it around for the three points.

Both teams are in decent form, so it will be a highly-contested affair. Atletico Madrid have the slight advantage, though Dortmund will hoping to make the comeback at home. However, we expect the toughness and experience of Diego Simeone’s side to prevail, even if they are unable to win the game – Borussia Dortmund 1-1 Atletico Madrid

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Borussia Dortmund vs Atletico Madrid will be available to watch on TNT Sports 2.

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