Champions League - Quarterfinals: 1st leg
In the first leg of the UEFA Champions League quarterfinals
Málaga CF host Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday evening. The Spanish
performed very successful in Champions League so far, especially on the
own ground, but will now probably face their strongest opponent.
Malaga look to continue their improbable Champions League run amid off
the field turmoil but face a very difficult task against an excellent
Dortmund side who are undefeated in the competition this year.
Malaga faced some very difficult times off the field this season which
resulted in the sale of a number of players who led them to 4th in la
liga last season. Instead of using that as an excuse for a poor seaosn
they have performed above all expectations and have made the Champions
League quarter finals after putting out a very strong Porto side in the
last 16. A difficult away fixture to start the tie saw Porto dominate
the match but only manage to convert one chance to take a 1-0 lead to
Malaga. The Spanish side knew this was their big chance and an
excellent performance saw a 2-0 win and a place in the last 8. Malaga
won't be able to compete in the Champions League next season even if
they finish in the top 4 again due to financial reasons so this could be
their last tie in the competition for some time.
Dortmund are doing tremendously well in this season's
Champions League, won their group ahead of Real Madrid, Manchester City
and Ajax Amsterdam, displayed outstanding football when drew 2:2 at Real
and 1:1 at Manchester City. On the other side the German champions of
the last two years are not as good in Bundesliga this season, are
obviously mainly focused on the Champions League. At least since central
defender Hummels got injured recently, they have problems in defence
and Hummels won't be fit for the Malag match. When Dortmund won 2:1 in
Stuttgart on Saturday, they did not seemed secure in the back again,
also left-back Schmelzer got a nasal bone fracture, is not sure to play
on Wednesday.
Match date: 3 April 2013
Kick Off Time: 19:45 GMT
Venue: Estadio La Rosaleda, Spain
Match date: 3 April 2013
Kick Off Time: 19:45 GMT
Venue: Estadio La Rosaleda, Spain
Referee: Jonas Eriksson (SWE)