Borussia Dortmund vs Malaga: UEFA Champions League Match Preview, Team news and Line-ups

09 April 2013 10:11

Jurgen Klopp believes his Dortmund players have shown that they have what it takes to overcome a resilient Malaga and reach the Champions League semi-finals.

The German side drew 0-0 in Spain in the first leg last Wednesday before coming from behind to defeat Augsburg 4-2 in the Bundesliga at the weekend.

"The team passed the character test," said Klopp.

"It was important to show that we play football to win."

Borussia Dortmund midfielder Sven Bender knows his side can ill afford to be complacent and wasteful against a Malaga side that have reached the last eight in their debut Champions League campaign.

"It's a dangerous starting position," he said.

"We shouldn't start out stupidly and be caught out on a counter-attack, like we were (against Augsburg) on Saturday."

Malaga go to Dortmund knowing that they got away with it in the first leg in Spain.

But having escaped with a 0-0, they are still in with a real chance of making it to the last four and equalling the achievements of Villarreal, who under Malaga’s current coach Mauricio Pellegrini, became the first debutant to reach the last four of this competition in 2006.

Pellegrini flew home to Chile on Saturday to attend the funeral of his father, but is expected to be in Dortmund for Tuesday's game and spoke ahead of the Dortmund game of the importance of not conceding a goal at home.

His team are not especially defensive though and their controlled possession game serves both a defensive and attacking purpose.

And Pellegrini’s sides have a habit of knowing how to turn a tie around, having lost 1-0 to FC Porto in the first leg of their quarter-final. That was something his Villarreal team were excellent at as well, and the tricky Andalucians cannot be ruled out.

The Details

Venue: Westfalen Stadium

Date: Tuesday 9 April

Kick-off: 19:45 BST

Recent form

Borussia Dortmund:

Stuttgart 1-2 Borussia Dortmund (30/03; Bundesliga)

Malaga 0-0 Borussia Dortmund (03/04; Champions League)

Borussia Dortmund 4-2 Augsburg (06/04; Bundesliga)

Malaga:

Rayo Vallecano 1-3 Malaga (30/03; La Liga)

Malaga 0-0 Borussia Dortmund (03/04; Champions League)

Real Sociedad 4-2 Malaga (06/04; La Liga)

Key absences

Borussia Dortmund: Marco Reus (doubt); Roman Weidenfeller (doubt); Mats Hummels; Jakub Blaszczykowski

Malaga: Eliseu; Welington; Manuel Iturra

Source: DSG