Borussia Dortmund Team News, Starting XI Prediction

 It has been a decent start to the new league campaign for the two teams. Paris Saint Germain are still trying to find their feet after so many changes on the pitch and the technical bench. As for Borussia Dortmund, they have remained without a defeat, but the performances have not been shaky a bit.

PSG started the season at the Parc des Princes against Lorient. It was a bore-fest as the Ligue 1 champions could not find a way past their visitors, and it ended goalless. New signings Goncalo Ramos, Kang-In Lee, Manuel Ugarte, and Marco Asensio all debuted for PSG.

The match day two encounter against Toulouse also finished in a draw. Star forward Kylian Mbappe scored PSG’s first goal of the season shortly after coming on as a substitute for Lee.

After that, Luis Enrique’s side found some rhythm as they racked up back-to-back wins over Lens at home and at Lyon. Mbappe scored twice against Lens, while Asensio also grabbed his first goal in French football.

At Lyon, it was a commanding display against one of the title contenders, with Mbappe getting among the goals again. The France skipper scored twice in a blistering first-half performance, to which Asensio and Achraf Hakimi added goals of their own.

All of the aforementioned happened before the first international break of the season. Upon resumption of league football on Friday night, Paris Saint Germain suffered their first defeat of the season as Nice defeated them 3-2.

The French champions dominated, but they could not find a way past the visitors who were inspired in attack by Terem Moffi, as usual. Mbappe grabbed both goals for Enrique’s men, but it was not enough.

On the other hand, Dortmund have enjoyed an unbeaten start to the new Bundesliga season. The Black and Yellow lost out on the final day to Bayern Munich last season and are keen to make amends this season.

They needed a late goal from Doyen Malen to beat Cologne on the opening weekend before playing out consecutive draws against Bochum and Heidenheim just before the international break.

Borussia Dortmund’s biggest performance came against Freiburg as they came from a halftime deficit to win the game 4-2. It was the perfect preparation for Tuesday’s game against the French Champions.

Paris Saint Germain and Borussia Dortmund have only met once, which was in this competition. It came in the 2019/20 round of 16 – PSG lost 2-1 away in the first leg but won 2-0 at home, eventually reaching the final that campaign.

Enrique, who won the UEFA Champions League with Barcelona eight years ago,  has won 73% of his games as a manager in this competition (24/33); the highest win percentage of any coach with 20+ games in the competition.

He has not played much in this competition, but he could do something more, starting with this match on Tuesday night. Meanwhile, Dortmund could look at PSG’s shaky start to the season and try to exploit that.

Match tickets

The match at Parc des Princes in Paris kicks off on Tuesday, 19th September, at 8 PM UK time, and it will be shown live on TNT Sports (formerly BT Sport), with coverage starting from around 7 PM.

It is the dawn of a new era for PSG in the UEFA Champions League, and they will get their season underway at their magnificent 47,929-capacity stadium. This is a good fixture in the opening week of the new UEFA Champions League season.

Les Parisiens would be out in their numbers to support their side, while it is expected that Dortmund will also have a good number of their supporters at the venue. 

So, getting tickets for Paris Saint Germain vs Borussia Dortmund tickets could be difficult to get. Hence, you are advised to search ticket reselling sites should they be expectedly sold out on each club’s channels. 

Team news

Line-ups

It was a busy summer transfer window for the capital club, and the players are still trying to get their rhythm under their new manager. However, Kylian Mbappe is expected to start after his brace against Nice on Friday night.

New recruit Kolo Muani could also make his first start after his contribution against Nice. Meanwhile, Marco Asensio, Kang-in Lee, Juan Bernat, Nuno Mendes, and Presnel Kimpembe are among those dealing with respective knocks.

PSG: Donnarumma; Hakimi, Pereira, Skriniar, Hernandez; Zaire-Emery, Ugarte, Vitinha; Mbappe, Ramos, Dembele.

Mats Hummels, who grabbed a brace in the Bundesliga win over Freiburg, is expected to be at the heart of the backline. The former Bayern Munich defender will be partnered by Nico Schlotterbeck.

Stand-in captain Emre Can is expected to continue in midfield alongside Marcel Sabitzer, while Sebastian Haller should lead the line in the French capital. However, Mateu Morey, Niclas Füllkrug, Ramy Bensebaini, and Thomas Meunier sit in Dortmund’s physio room.

Borussia Dortmund: Kobel; Ryerson, Hummels, Schlotterbeck, Bensebaini; Can, Brandt, Sabitzer; Adeyemi, Haller, Malen.

Prediction

Both teams have scored several goals since the start of the season. All the five games involving PSG this season have produced 16 goals, while Borussia Dortmund’s games have produced 20 goals.

PSG are unbeaten in their last eight home Champions League group stage games, winning seven. Meanwhile, they have only won three of their last five Champions League home games and have kept just one clean sheet during that period. Borussia Dortmund are poor travelers in this competition, conceding in four of their past five away games.

Regarding the potential goalscorers, Kylian Mbappé has opened the scoring in five of PSG’s last seven Champions League home games. At the same time, Sébastien Haller has scored 11 goals in 10 appearances in the Champions League.

It is rather difficult to point at an outright winner, but it is certain that fans of both clubs and neutrals alike will very much enjoy this fixture.