Borussia Dortmund and Zenit St. Petersburg will compete in the second leg of the Champions League on Wednesday.
The German side enters the meeting with a 4-2 aggregate lead thanks to a dominating performance in Russia. Robert Lewandowski scored twice for the German side while Marco Reus added a goal as well. Reus is actually questionable for the match due to an injury.
"We hope he'll be back," said Dortmund's director of sport Michael Zorc, according to ESPN. "His injury is pretty much healed so we can consider playing him."
While Reus' absence would be big for the team, it would have minor ramifications in this match. With a 4-2 advantage, Dortmund would have to lose 3-0 or 4-1 to be eliminated from contention at this juncture. Considering the poor form of Zenit St. Petersburg, that is unlikely to happen. Moreover, Dortmund won two of three games at home against superior sides like Napoli and Marseille by dominate scores of 3-1 and 3-0. The team has a record of eight wins, one draw and four losses in the Bundesliga; the team has only allowed more than two goals at home in one match this season and that was a 3-0 loss against Bayern Munich. Dortmund has only conceded 14 goals on its home turn in 2013-14. Zenit only scored five goals in the first six Champions League group matches and has a total of seven in the entire tournament; the likelihood of them scoring half of that output in a single game on the road is highly improbable.
Zenit's big news has nothing to do with this game. After the second leg, the team will welcome Andre Villas-Boas as its new manager; he is expected to run the team until 2015-16. The team currently sits in second place in the Russian Premier League with 41 points; the team is three behind first place Lokomotiv Moscow. If Zenit remained in second for the duration of the season, the team would have to compete in the Champions League playoffs next season for a chance to play in the group stage.
Player to Watch: As always, any game featuring Robert Lewandowski is a joy to watch. The versatile striker will no longer play for Dortmund in 2014-15, but he continues to play well for his current side. He has 15 goals and six assists in 24 Bundesliga games for the club this season and has scored six goals in his last seven games for the team. Overall, Lewandowski has managed 22 goals in 33 games for Dortmund, including the Champions League and German Cup. Lewandowski scored 10 Champions League goals a year ago and finished second behind Cristiano Ronaldo in goal scoring throughout the entire tournament. He is likely to put together a terrific game on Wednesday and could find himself approaching 10 when the game comes to an end.
Prediction: Borussia Dortmund wins 3-0.
The match kicks off at 3:45 p.m. EST and can be streamed online on Fox Soccer 2 Go. It can also be viewed on Fox Soccer Plus.
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