Pre-Match Analysis: Borussia Dortmund faces Sporting Lisbon in the first leg of the Champions League playoffs | OneFootball

Following the end of the League Phase, the UEFA Champions League knockout playoffs will start this week for Borussia Dortmund. After finishing out of the top eight, the Black-and-Yellows will fight for a spot in the round of 16 against Sporting Lisbon. This Tuesday, BVB will head to Portugal for the first leg match, and Niko Kovač and the boys will undoubtedly aspire to take a good result to the Westfalenstadion next week.

While Sporting has drawn against Porto in the local derby, conceding a goal at the last minute after leading for most of the game, Dortmund is pressured for results following a home defeat to Stuttgart. VfB has been a difficult matchup for the Black-and-Yellows in recent times, with Dortmund winless since October 2022. Now, BVB will attempt to recover from the poor league campaign, qualifying for the UCL next stage and honoring last year's run, in which the team went all the way to reach the final.

However, Sporting Lisbon is not a favorable matchup this early in the knockout round. Besides the individual brilliance of a few players like Viktor Gyökeres, the Lions have found new form under the new manager, Rui Borges. Despite losing their star manager, Ruben Amorim, Sporting fans are satisfied with their team leading the Portuguese league by four points. They now have a reason to hope for higher flights in Europe against an inconsistent Dortmund side with a newly admitted coach.

Here is a pre-match preview of Borussia Dortmund facing Sporting in Lisbon and how BVB could bring a good advantage to Signal Iduna Park and solve this season's conundrum: