PSV take on the visitors Borussia Dortmund in the first leg of UEFA Champions League 1/8-finals. The match will be played on Tuesday, February 20th at Philips Stadion (Eindhoven).
PSV, despite being one of the leaders of Dutch football, have often played second fiddle, finishing as runners-up behind Ajax initially and then behind Feyenoord last season. In the summer, they brought in Peter Bosz to Eindhoven, which was a significant risk given his recent unsuccessful stints at several clubs. However, he immediately started with a victory in the Super Cup. Currently, in the Eredivisie, they have already pulled away from the closest pursuer, and there is hardly any doubt that the red and whites will reclaim the gold, for the first time since 2018. Moreover, in the Champions League group stage, the Dutch showed themselves reasonably well: although they couldn't compete effectively against the familiar opponent, Arsenal, they outperformed not only the crisis-hit Sevilla but also, by 1 point, Lille.
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Borussia Dortmund regained form ahead of the resumption of European competitions. The Black and Yellows faced a tough group in the fall, a real group of death, consisting only of representatives from top countries - French PSG, Italian Milan, and English Newcastle. Despite a challenging start, the Yellow Blacks managed to top the group. They secured a place in the playoffs in advance but also finished undefeated against Mbappe and company. However, their domestic results became significantly worse. The grand club has already been eliminated from the German Cup, conceding a couple of unanswered goals in Stuttgart from the homonymous club. By Christmas, they were only fifth, trailing their closest neighbor from above, RB Leipzig. Fortunately, they managed to strengthen their squad with Bender and Sahin, local former graduates and stars as players, albeit not of the highest caliber. Regarding the squad, Sancho and Matson came on loan from England. In January-February, they only dropped points against Heidenheim, where they played 0-0, with four wins. As a result, the Bulls not only caught up but also pulled away from the competition.
In 2017, the sides met in a friendly match. The Germans were clearly stronger and won 4-1. Both teams play attacking football. So, here, we expect a truly entertaining game, as befitting the Champions League playoffs - we expect that the total goals over 2.5 mark will be surpassed.
Prediction for the match: Over 2.5 scored goals.
