Everything has been going splendidly in the Champions League for Borussia Dortmund who will look to finish the first cycle of group stage matches with a perfect record. To do that, they'll need a result in Turkey against Group D's last place team Galatasaray who've managed just a single point from their first two games.
Galatasaray vs. Borussia Dortmund, 2014 UEFA Champions League: Team news and game preview
Dortmund will try to keep their perfect record in group play in tact as they travel to face Galatasaray
Dortmund's success in Group D is in stark contrast to their poor league form and Jurgen Klopp has to find a way to keep his team playing well in Europe, while trying to get that form to translate to the Bundesliga. Fortunately for Klopp his team is starting to get healthy again with İlkay Gündoğan finally back from an extended injury, while Marco Reus and Henrikh Mkhitaryan are back in form after missing time as well.
Galatasaray have been the opposite of Dortmund playing well in league play but struggling in the Champions League.
Key Player: Marco Reus (Dortmund)
Dortmund have a plethora of weapons in the attack but probably none better then Marco Reus. The return of Shinji Kagawa has allowed Reus to play more on the wing this season, which suits his game a bit better. Reus is fast, he’s creative, he can score, he’s a player that Galatasaray must keep their eyes on at all times.
Key Matchup: Dortmund’s spirit vs. Their domestic struggles
While Dortmund are perfect so far in the Champions League, their Bundesliga season is quickly becoming a horrible yellow and back train wreck. BVB have lose five for their first eight league games and sit 14th in the league, miles behind leaders Bayern Munich. Typically in situations like this a team can go one of two directions. Either BVB will pull together and use the the Champions League as a way to fix their bigger problems, or the struggles in league play will begin to seep into their tournament form.
Galatasaray injuries and suspensions
Out: Aydın Yılmaz (foot).
Dortmund injuries and suspensions
Out: Nuri Şahin (knee), Marcel Schmelzer (hand). In Doubt: Jakob Błaszczykowski (thigh), Erik Durm (thigh), Oliver Kirch (thigh).
Dortmund will be without Şahin and Schmelzer, but the status of Błaszczykowski, Durm and Kirch are more up in the air. Birch is back training but hasn’t played since mid-August, while Durm suffered a minor injury in warmups over the weekend. Błaszczykowski seems likely to start on the bench after returning from a long term knee injury. Aydın Yılmaz is Galatasaray’s only missing player.
Match Date/Time: Wednesday 9:45 p.m. local, 2:45 p.m. ET
Venue: Türk Telekom Arena, Istanbul, Turkey
TV: DirecTV, FOX Soccer Plus (U.S. - English), Sky Sports Red Button (U.K.), Sky Sport 4/HD, ZDF (Germany), Smart Spor (Turkey)
Online: FOX Soccer 2Go, ESPN3 (U.S.), Sportsnet World Now (Canada), SkyGo (U.K.), Sky Go Deutschland (Germany)
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