Borussia Dortmund vs Besiktas
The final UEFA Champions League Group C showdown between Borussia Dortmund and Besiktas at the Signal Iduna Park is nothing but a dead rubber.
With nothing but pride left to play for, Borussia Dortmund will be looking to wrap up their underwhelming Champions League group stage campaign with a bang before switching over to the Europa League knock-outs. Following back-to-back wins to open their Group C adventure, the Bundesliga giants have lost three consecutive group stage outings by an aggregate score of 10-2 en route to failing to negotiate a Champions League group stage campaign for the first time since the 2017/18 season. But Dortmund eked out a 2-1 win at Besiktas in the reverse fixture in September, maintaining their 100% record against them in European football. What’s more, ‘Die Borussen’ have only lost one of their nine UEFA-sanctioned matches against Turkish opposition (W7, D1), winning the last three in a row by an aggregate score of 10-2.
As for Besiktas, an utterly humiliating Champions League Group C campaign sees them start Matchday 6 bottom of the standings with all five defeats and a -11 goal difference (GF:3, GA:14). The Turks have only won one of their six away European matches on German soil (D1, L4), succumbing to a horrendous 5-0 defeat at Bayern Munich in their most recent such match-up. Adding to a sizeable list of concerns, the ‘Black Eagles’ have lost each of their last three Champions League away games without scoring while conceding a whopping 11 goals in return. Besiktas’ recent form on the road douses any embers of optimism regarding a potential upset, with Sergen Yalcin’s men failing to win any of their last seven travels in all competitions (D1, L6), letting in 2+ goals on five occasions in that run.