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Borussia Dortmund, Real Madrid Renew Champions League Rivalry in Matchday 2

Real Madrid travels to Signal Iduna Park on Tuesday in a battle between the two heavyweights of Group H.
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Real Madrid travel to Signal Iduna Park on Tuesday night in a battle between the two heavyweights of Group H.

The Spanish side won their opening group game and, despite an indifferent start to their La Liga season, managed a victory away at Alaves on Saturday and therefore will look to build a strong run of form.

Although Dortmund were beaten by Spurs in their opening Group H fixture, the Yellow Submarines have won their last three Bundesliga games and scored 14 goals in the process.

Here's everything you need to know ahead of the clash in Dortmund:

Classic Encounter

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In the 2013 Champions League semi-final a Dortmund side led by Jurgen Klopp produced an attacking masterclass in a 4-1 victory over the Spanish giants.

Polish striker Robert Lewandowski gave the home side the lead after volleying in a Mario Gotze cross after just 8 minutes, before Cristiano Ronaldo tapped in to pull Madrid level.

However, Lewandowski was in exhilarating form and completed his hat-trick with two quickfire goals in five minutes just after half-time to leave Jose Mourinho's side stunned and their hopes of another Champions League final in the balance.

Lewandowski then netted a fourth from the penalty spot after Marco Reus was fouled and despite Mourinho throwing on Karim Benzema and Angel Di Maria with 20 minutes to go in an effort to haul his team back into the game, they could not fight back went out on aggregate despite winning 2-0 in the reverse leg.

Key Battle

Lukasz Piszczek vs Cristiano Ronaldo

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Cristiano Ronaldo has endured a tough start to the season by his standards, netting just three times and shooting up the infamous list of players with the most shots without scoring in Europe.

Dropped points against Real Betis, Levante and Valencia means that the defending La Liga champions are currently sitting in 5th place and their poor league form could have a detrimental impact on their performance in the Champions League.

Lukasz Piszczek will be coming up against Ronaldo directly in the right-back role, but the Polish defender has been part of a Dortmund side which has conceded just once in six league games, despite a nervy loss against Spurs in the Champions League a few weeks ago.

Ronaldo is the heart of the Madrid attack and his battle against Piszczek will be a crucial one because unless the Portuguese star can inspire a change of fortunes for Madrid, Los Blancos could be looking at more dropped points in an already poor start to the season.

Team News

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Dortmund still have many key players out injured, with Raphael Guerreiro, Marcel Schmelzer, Erik Durm and Marco Reus all still out injured.

Defender Marc Bartra could be in contention to feature depending on the results of a fitness test, but the significant amount of defenders on the absentee list means more pressure will be on the likes of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to out-score their opponents.

Madrid will have striker Karim Benzema and left-back Marcelo on the sidelines, while Mateo Kovačić will be out for at least two months.

Injuries mean that youngsters Borja Mayoral and Dani Ceballos could feature once again from the bench.

Potential Borussia Dortmund Starting Lineup (4-3-3): Burki; Piszczek, Sokratis, Toprak, Zagadou; Castro, Sahin, Götze; Yarmolenko, Aubameyang, Pulisic.

Potential Real Madrid Starting Lineup (4-3-3): Navas; Carvajal, Varane, Ramos, Nacho; Kroos, Casemiro, Modric; Isco, Ronaldo, Asensio.

Prediction

Borussia Dortmund will not to start their Champions League campaign with two lossess in a row and the home support will be crucial to their performance.

Given Madrid's tough start to the season, they may find the trip to Germany tough, but if Ronaldo can hit his best form then the game could change in an instant.

Prediction: Borussia Dortmund 2-2 Real Madrid