PSV Eindhoven-Borussia Dortmund is a match valid for the first leg of the round of 16 of the Champions League and is played on Wednesday at 9pm: TV, streaming, lineups, predictions.
The probably less prestigious but no less interesting round of 16. On one side is a team that is dominating its league, PSV Eindhoven, and after twenty days has a 10-point lead over its main pursuer, Feyenoord. On the other is Borussia Dortmund, which is still undefeated in 2024 (four wins and two draws) and has shown the best things precisely in the Champions League, surprisingly securing first place in the iron round ahead of PSG, AC Milan and Newcastle.
In the Bundesliga, on the other hand, Edin Terzic’s men continue to limp along. Never really fighting for the title, the yellow-and-white lineup at the moment is not even sure of finishing in the top four. And thus of being able to replay the cup with the big ears again next year. Borussia Dortmund is only fourth in the standings, and after the last day of the championship, in which Emre Can and his teammates were forced to settle for a draw (1-1) at home to Wolfsburg, it is back to feeling the breath on the neck of Leipzig, which now has only one point less. Continuity, in short, is certainly not the strongest platter for Terzic’s team, quite a distance even from third-placed Stuttgart, which took advantage of this at the weekend by flying to +5.
Dortmund, look who’s back
Medita revenge Peter Bosz, the main architect of this amazing season by PSV Eindhoven. The Apeldoorn native coach in fact led Borussia Dortmund for only a few months in the 2017-18 season.
A return to the Netherlands, after a less-than-exciting experience in France at the helm of Lyon, has done him good. His team is a goal-scoring machine (it has scored 70 in 20 Eredivisie games) and has cashed in on two of its three season-long defeats in the Champions League against an opponent of such superior caliber as Arsenal (the other knockout came in the Dutch Cup with Feyenoord). Bosz rotated most of the starters last Friday in the league match with Heracles, won 2-0, but against Borussia he will have to give up two important elements such as Lang and Bella-Kotchap and Til’s presence is in doubt. In the attacking trident are former Neapolitan Lozano, Bakayoko and slinger de Jong. Dortmund almost full: only Nmecha, struggling with a hip problem, will not be available.
The prediction
In the Champions League so far Borussia Dortmund has surprised everyone, going on to win on such difficult fields as those of AC Milan and Newcastle. The yellow-and-whites, however, are hardly ever consistent, although after the break Terzic’s team returned to the pitch in a different mood. Open match (and thus also qualification) but in our opinion PSV Eindhoven should be able to avoid defeat in this first round. Both will most likely score on at least one occasion.
The probable lineups of PSV Eindhoven-Borussia Dortmund
PSV EINDHOVEN (4-3-3): Benítez; Teze, Ramalho, Boscagli, Dest; Veerman, Schouten, Saibari; Bakayoko, de Jong, Lozano.
BORUSSIA DORTMUND (4-2-3-1): Kobel; Ryerson, Hummels, Schlotterbeck, Maatsen; Sabitzer, Salih Özcan; Malen, Sancho, Bynoe-Gittens; Füllkrug.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 2-1
