Real Madrid vs. Borussia Dortmund, 2014 UEFA Champions League quarterfinals: Not last year’s tie

The season will not get any easier for Jürgen Klopp and his team. In a season highlighted by how much they've regressed after last year's Champions League final defeat, Robert Lewandoski's transfer speculation and crippling injuries, Klopp's men now find themselves at the mercy of Real Madrid. Though the two teams have faced each other before, meeting in the semifinals last year, where Dortmund battered Real Madrid 4-1 in the first leg before losing 2-0 in the return leg. They come in as two completely different teams for this year's competition.

This year's Real Madrid, led by Carlo Ancelotti, are a much more dangerous team than last season's. It features an irresistible Luka Modric in the center, protected by the always reliable Xabi Alonso and a new trick, a hungry, hustling Di Maria in Sami Khedira's spot. Not only does Di maria provide energy in the middle, but he has become a piercing, dribbling weapon when fleet of foot and pinpoint passing fails to control the game.

This Real Madrid team also features the expensive, explosive trio dubbed as the "BBC": a trident composed of a somehow unfairly improved Cristiano Ronaldo, a reborn Karim Benzema and a sizzling Gareth Bale. These three have scored more than 70 goals between them, propelling Real Madrid to first place in the La Liga standings and into the record books. And because of these three, Schalke were dismantled in the last leg as each man claimed a brace in a 6-1 first leg victory.

Borussia Dortmund, on the other hand, are stumbling in to the quarterfinals. They lost 2-1 to Zenit St. Petersburg in the second leg of their Round of 16 tie after winning the first leg, 4-2. In a match where they were routinely outplayed by what most would have assumed to be a lesser opponent, Dortmund were booed and heckled by their own fans for the entirety of the game. And they suffered a blow even worse than the loss: Lewandoski is ruled out for the first leg of the quarterfinal after receiving a booking, while defender Marcel Schmelzer suffered strained adductor muscles.

These two injuries add to a worrying list of injured stars for Klopp, a list that includes Neven Subotic, Sven Bender, Ilkay Gündogan and Jakub Blaszczykowski. Star winger Marco Reus also recently returned from injury and is struggling to find his best form again. So a Dortmund team that's struggling domestically and in Europe, with an ever-growing list of injured players and a suspended striker, has to take on a Real Madrid team that seems to get better every week.

Dortmund: Marco Reus - The winger will need to regain his form as quickly as possible. With Lewandowski out of the match-up for the first leg and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang inconsistent, the winger will have to shoulder the goal-scoring burden for a rudderless Dortmund team. The good news for him is that Alvaro Arbeloa should be out due injury so that should make things a bit easier for him.

Madrid's attack vs. Dortmund's defense - Dortmund's salvation will be if they can manage to withstand the barrage from the trio of Real Madrid attackers for 90 minutes while trying to craft their own chances. While Real Madrid are still vulnerable at the back as Mercelo is suspect in his defending, Iker Casillas, the cup goalkeeper, recently went 952 minutes without conceding a goal. Dortmund has everything going against them, really.