Two giants face off against each other today, on the second UEFA Champions League match day, Well, Anderlecht are not so much giants on the European stage anymore as they not made much of an impact in recent years since their last European trophy when they won the UEFA Cup back in 1983. But the Belgian club are very much giants in their home country as they have won the last three Belgian Pro League championships.
On the other hand, Borussia Dortmund are very much the favorites to finish first in this group in this year’s Champions League. Just two years removed from their last final where they fell to rivals Bayern Munich, Jurgen Klopp has his squad right where he wants them, well at least in this competition as they brushed aside Arsenal rather easily. In league form, however, Dortmund have not had the best of starts to the campaign as the German outfit has made several defensive blunders which, consequently, has cost them several points in the early part of the season.
Anderlecht, though, have picked up right where they left off in the BPL as they currently sit in first place four points ahead of Gent, who are sitting 17 points behind the champions. The Belgian club has been known for producing bright, talented young footballers that get snatched up by clubs from the top five European leagues. So of course you will be seeing prospects galore on display Wednesday evening as Andy Najar (21), Denis Praet (20), Frank Acheampong (20), Aleksandar Mitrovic (20), and Yoeri Tielmans (17), will all be on display.
These two sides will be playing completely different styles of football as Dortmund will go on the prowl right from the first whistle. The three headed monster speared by Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Shinji Kagawa and Marco Reus will look to feed the Italian striker Ciro Immobile who will be putting fear in the eyes of the Anderlecht back four. We now know from this that the hosts will be sitting back, staying as compact as possible for as longs as they possibly can. However, if Dortmund can score early, expect the flood gates to open and for the hosts to be in for a long ninety minutes.