Two of the best young teams in Europe meet in the Champions League quarter finals when Monaco travel to Signal Iduna Park to play Borussia Dortmund. Dortmund beat Benfica in the round of 16 4-1 on aggregate, while Monaco beat Manchester City, despite conceding five goals in the first leg. This promises to be one of the most hotly anticipated ties of the round, with both sides capable of scoring lots of goals. Dortmund have scored 34 goals in their eight Champions League games this season, while Monaco have scored 39 in 12 European games.
Dortmund had a disappointing weekend, losing to rivals Bayern Munich. They were poor defensively, conceding twice in the opening minutes and although they pulled a goal back, they went on to lose the game 4-1. It’s been a disappointing season for Dortmund, who are lying in fourth place in the Bundesliga, however there’s so much potential in the squad. Tuchel has compiled a number of Europe’s best young prospects in their side, including Ousmane Dembele and Christian Pulisic, however their crown jewel is striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. Aubameyang has scored 33 goals in 36 appearances for Dortmund this season, including seven in the Champions League and has attracted the attention of a number of Premier League clubs and Real Madrid.
Monaco meanwhile, have broken the dominance of Paris St. Germain in Ligue 1 and currently sit top of the French league, leading Nice by a point and holding a 3-point cushion over PSG. Like Dortmund, they also have a young squad, as well as a star striker. Falcao has returned from a couple of disappointing loan spells in England and has scored six Champions League goals so far. Monaco have been free-scoring this season, but their defence has also shown that it’s capable of conceding goals. Manchester City scored five in the first leg, but still contrived to lose the game.
Borussia Dortmund vs. Monaco Predictions
All signs are pointing towards this being a high scoring encounter. Both sides are prolific in front of goal, while both have defensive issues. It wouldn’t be surprising to see the first leg end has a high scoring draw, while Monaco win at home in the return leg.
Borussia Dortmund vs. Monaco Betting Tips
- Dortmund to win: 20/33
- Draw: 33/10
- Monaco to win: 4/1
- Over 3.5 goals: Evens
- Monaco to win and both teams to score: 19/4
Head to Head
- This is the first competitive encounter between Dortmund and Monaco.
- Only one French team has beaten Dortmund on their own soil in European competition (D3 L5), it was Marseille in December 2011 (3-2).
- This will be Monaco’s third competitive game against a German side this season after facing Bayer Leverkusen in the group stages, drawing 1-1 at home before losing 3-0 away.
- Borussia Dortmund have lost only one of their eight Champions League games this season (W5 D2), it was away against Benfica in the first leg of the round of 16.
- However, Dortmund have lost seven of their last 10 games in the Champions League knockout stages (W3).
- Monaco have conceded 13 goals in the Champions League this season, including eight in their last two away games, more than any other team among the remaining quarter finalists.
- Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has scored seven goals in seven Champions League games this season, including a hat-trick in his last outing against Benfica in the round of 16.
Borussia Dortmund Team News
Thomas Tuchel has a number of injuries in his squad. Eric Durm is set to miss out, while he’ll be without a number of midfielders, including Shinji Kagawa, Mario Gotze, Julian Weigl, Andre Schurrle, Marco Reus and Sebastian Rode.
Monaco Team News
Monaco will be without Gabriel Boschilia and Guido Carrillo, who are both out injured.
