Borussia Dortmund vs Sporting Lisbon

Borussia Dortmund will play host to Sporting Lisbon at the Signal Iduna Park in a must-win UEFA Champions League fixture.

Despite falling to a surprise 1-0 defeat to Borussia Monchengladbach over the weekend, Dortmund will be looking to build on their 2-1 away victory over Besiktas in their Champions League opener. There is no better side to return to winning ways than Sporting, with ‘Die Borussen’ boasting a 100% European home record against Portuguese visitors (W6). Home and away, none of Dortmund’s last 12 European meetings with Primeira Liga opposition have ended as a draw, with the Germans registering eight triumphs in that sequence (L4). It’s worth noting that the hosts are enjoying their longest unbeaten streak in the Champions League group stage games at home (W6, D3). Signal Iduna Park has been a venue of entertainment this season, as each of Dortmund’s three competitive matches here has seen Marco Rose’s men pick up the three points despite conceding precisely two goals.

As for Sporting, they succumbed to a dreadful 5-1 home loss to Ajax on Matchday 1, though they’ve since racked up a brace of 1-0 domestic triumphs to boost their confidence. However, translating that form here would be a daunting task, as they’ve lost both previous Champions League meetings with Dortmund by a single-goal margin. Additionally, Sporting’s overall European record against German opposition reads negatively, with the reigning Portuguese champions claiming just one win across their 14 such clashes so far (D2, L11). There’s no end to Sporting’s list of problems, as they have seven of their last eight away fixtures in the Champions League (W1). But it’s worth noting that their most recent such game dates back to December 2017. Ruben Amorim’s men have yet to lose on the road this season (W2, D1), with each of those trips yielding a full-time margin of under 1.5 goals.