BVB look for first win in Europe this season
Borussia Dortmund will host Italian outfit Atalanta, in the round of 32 stage the Europa League.
BVB are unbeaten in their last six games, but are winless in Europe and failed to navigate their way out of a Champions League group, made up of Real Madrid, Tottenham Hotspur, and APOEL Nicosia.
Meanwhile, 8th place Atalanta qualified as group leaders in an extremely competitive group containing teams such as Lyon, Everton, and Apollon Limassol, scoring 14 goals and only conceding four.
The Italians are also unbeaten in Europe and have a 100% win record at their home, the Atleti Azzurri d’Italia.
Gian Piero Gasperini’s side is extremely quick on the counter-attack and even beat Premier League outfit Everton 3-0 at home and even more impressively 5-1 away at Goodison Park.
La Dea have won three of their last five games, and the only defeat in that period was a 1-0 defeat to current Serie A leaders Napoli, so like Dortmund, they are in good form.
Who should Dortmund keep an eye on?
People that watched their fixtures against Everton, would have seen that Atalanta are lethal on the counter-attack.
But, the key player Dortmund have to watch out for is 22-year old Bryan Cristante.
The young player, who has a dual nationality of Italian and Canadian, plays central midfield and is currently on loan from Benfica.
He is the playmaker that makes Atalanta tick and with 10 goals and one assist in 30 appearances, he is their top goalscorer.
The one time Italian Cup winners put Everton to the sword in a first-half blitz, which saw them hit three goals in just over 15 minutes, so expect them to come out of the blocks quickly.
Should BVB be worried?
Since taking over at the Signal Iduna Park, Dortmund look to have recovered from the traumatic final months of Peter Bosz’s reign.
BVB’s last two victories against Hamburg and Koln means that they have put together back to back victories for the first time since December.
They have also been boosted by the return of Captain and Talisman Marco Reus, who only made his first appearance of the season against Hamburg,
In addition to this, they have a striker in form in Michy Batshuayi.
The Belgian has hit the ground running since joining from Chelsea on a loan deal in January, added to his goal tally in the recent 2-0 home victory against Hamburg last Saturday.
Overall
Both teams are in good form at the moment and both the Signal Iduna Park and the Atleti Azzurri d’Italia will be rocking.
Dortmund will be billed as the favourites by most pundits; however, after not being able to beat Apoel Nicosia in the Champion’s League Group Stage, the yellows certainly cannot take anything for granted.
