Borussia Dortmund and Inter Milan conclude their Champions League group-stage campaign with a meeting at Signal Iduna Park on Wednesday.
Both teams start the final round of matches outside the top eight and will be keen to secure maximum points to give themselves a shot at automatic qualification for the last 16.
Match preview
After picking up seven points from their first three Champions League matches this term, Dortmund were well on course for safe passage into the knockout stage.
However, a run of four points from their subsequent four European outings has dropped them to 16th in the standings, two points shy of Chelsea in eighth.
Niko Kovac’s men had the perfect response to their 2-0 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur last Tuesday as they swatted aside Union Berlin in a comfortable 3-0 victory on Saturday.
That was a third victory in four matches for Die Schwarzgelben, who are now unbeaten in eight of their last nine matches across all competitions.
During this run, Dortmund have benefitted from fast starts, having opened the scoring on eight occasions.
Back at home after consecutive matches on the road, Wednesday’s hosts will be aiming to continue their blistering run on home turf, where they have won three straight matches by a combined score of 8-2.
Inter also made a bright start to their Champions League journey, winning four of the first four matches.
A last-gasp 2-1 defeat to Atletico Madrid on matchday five brought their perfect record to an end, and they have since been beaten by Liverpool and Arsenal.
Having won five of their six outings either side of the new year, Cristian Chivu’s men were staring down the barrel of back-to-back losses last time out after going 2-0 down against Pisa before scoring six unanswered goals to run out emphatic winners.
Last year’s finalists will now head to Germany aiming to avoid the added burden of a last-16 play-off tie in an already congested fixture schedule.
However, given how tightly packed the current standings are, Inter are unlikely to move up six places into eighth even if they manage all three points on Wednesday.
Team news
Marcel Sabitzer has missed Dortmund’s last three matches due to a calf injury and is not expected to be back in time for Wednesday’s clash.
Daniel Svensson is also a guaranteed absentee as he serves a one-game suspension for his red card against Tottenham Hotspur.
Inter’s Hakan Calhanoglu and Tomas Palacios are unavailable through calf and thigh issues respectively, while Denzel Dumfries misses out with an ankle problem.
Following his strike against Pisa, Francesco Esposito has now directly contributed to a goal in six of his last seven starts and could fend off competition from Marcus Thuram to feature alongside Lautaro Martinez up top.
Borussia Dortmund Predicted XI: Kobel, Bensebaini, Schlottrbeck, Anton; Couto, Bellingham, Nmecha, Ryerson; Brandt, Adeeyemi, Guirassy.
Inter Predicted XI: Sommer; Bastoni, Acerbi, Akanji; Henrique, Barella, Zielinski, Sucic, Dimarco; Martinez, Esposito.
Prediction: Borussia Dortmund 1-2 Inter Milan.
