Barcelona vs. Borussia Dortmund: UEFA Champions League CONFIRMED line-ups, match stats and LIVE blog!
Jadon Sancho scored a superb consolation goal but Borussia Dortmund ultimately fell short against Barcelona in UEFA Champions League Group F.
Barcelona 3-1 Borussia Dortmund
Goals: 1-0 Suarez (29'), 2-0 Messi (33'), 3-0 Griezmann (67'), 3-1 Sancho (77')
Barcelona: ter Stegen – Roberto, Umtiti, Lenglet, Firpo – Rakitic (Vidal 78'), Busquets, de Jong – Messi (c), Suarez (Wague 90'+1), Dembele (Griezmann 26')
Dortmund: Bürki - Piszczek (Zagadou 76'), Akanji, Hummels, Guerreiro - Witsel, Weigl (Götze 85') - Hakimi, Reus (c), Schulz (Sancho 46') - Brandt
As it happened
FULL-TIME!
In the end it was too little, too late for Dortmund, despite an inspired second-half cameo from Jadon Sancho. The damage was done in the space of four first-half minutes, as Messi first teed up Suarez before scoring himself. The Barca No.10 then grabbed another assist for Griezmann before Sancho's delightful consolation goal. It will go down to the final game for BVB - they have to better Inter's result against Barca when they play Slavia Prague to reach the last 16.
90'+1 DORTMUND STILL COMING
But they're going to run out of time...
88' AKANJI WELL OVER
A bit of a rush of blood to the head from the centre-back, as he sends an attempt flying towards the upper levels of the Camp Nou. Dortmund applying all the pressure at the moment.
87' OFF THE CROSSBAR!
So close to 3-2! It's Sancho again with a superb drive from the edge of the area, but ter Stegen manages to deflect it onto the woodwork. What an impact the 19-year-old is having.
86' FIRPO HURT
There's a bit of a break in proceedings as Junior Firpo receives treatment. The Barca left-back is OK to continue.
82' DORTMUND ON THE HUNT
The men in yellow are sniffing around the Barca penalty area, but they haven't managed to get another sight of goal yet. Brandt has just been called back for a marginal offside.
77' GOAL FROM SANCHO!
What a brilliant hit! Game on! Brandt squares for Sancho, who dummies a pass out right to Hakimi, shimmies inside, and lashes one high into the roof of the net. No chance for ter Stegen. Could we have a grandstand finish on our hands?
75' MESSI OFF THE BAR
The Barca man has a go from a direct free-kick out on the right hand side, but luckily for Dortmund it bounces off the post and out.
73' BARCA ON THE FRONT FOOT
And their No.10 is pulling all the strings, as you might expect. A long way back for Dortmund now - but one goal can change things...
70' THIS MESSI GUY
He's pretty good.
67' GRIEZMANN SCORES
Disaster for Dortmund. Just as they are finding a way back into the game, Messi slips through for Griezmann and the Frenchman drives low into the corner for 3-0.
66' MESSI JUST WIDE
Sergi Roberto crosses from the right and Messi gets up for a rare header, but it's wide of the mark.
65' DORTMUND ON TOP
Hakimi almost slips a neat ball through to Sancho, but he can't quite get to it after a deflection. The England international is everywhere at the moment - he was the one who teed up Brandt a few minutes ago.
60' BRANDT!
Dortmund get the ball into the Barca area and Brandt stabs a low effort at ter Stegen, but the Germany No.2 keeper comes up with the goods again. Like in the first group game, the men in yellow haven't yet found a way to beat the former Gladbach stopper. That was a really good chance.
59' BETTER FROM BVB
A sustained period of Dortmund possession ends with Lenglet cutting out a pass for Guerreiro. More positive from the visitors but they need a little bit more movement in attack - Sancho is looking the liveliest at the moment.
55' FOLLOWING PSG'S EXAMPLE?
The French champions were in Spain last night - at Real Madrid - and struck twice in two minutes to rescue a draw, even if they had half as many shots on goal as their hosts. If BVB can get the next goal, it's game on.
51' MESSI BOOKED FOR DIVING
A big call from the ref. Messi slices through the Dortmund defence and appears to be brought down by Bürki inside the area - but instead of awarding a penalty, Clement Turpin books the Barca star for diving. A look at the replay shows he was absolutely spot on.
50' END TO END STUFF
Both sides are pressing fairly high and the game is swinging from one end to the other. Dortmund are looking to attack down their left with Guerreiro and Sancho, but to no avail so far.
46' WE'RE BACK UNDERWAY
Dortmund kick off the second half. Sancho has come on for Schulz - can the England winger inspire a comeback for the visitors?
HALF-TIME
The ref can go and find a nice warm flannel for his face now. Dortmund can't have too many complaints really - they haven't been able to develop much of a passing game and Barcelona are doing what Barcelona do on home soil. To put it into perspective, the Spanish side haven't lost a Champions League group game at the Camp Nou since October 2009. Perhaps the introduction of Sancho or Hazard could give BVB some fresh impetus?
45' OUCH!
You'll be seeing this one on social media soon. Poor old referee Clement Turpin gets whacked in the face with the ball at close range. Barca were actually through on goal, but he had to stop play to recover.
43' HAKIMI FROM DISTANCE
The Morocco international has a go from well outside the area, but it's high over ter Stegen's goal. I'm sure the Real Madrid loanee would love to get on the scoresheet against Barca...
38' SUAREZ ATTEMPTS A CHEEKY LOB
But luckily it's overcooked and lands on the roof of Bürki's net.
36' DORTMUND TRYING TO SETTLE
The visitors look a bit stunned after conceding those two quick-fire goals, but they're trying to string a few passes together again. The key now is to keep it tight until the interval at least...
33' MESSI MAKES IT 2-0
It's all happening too quickly for Dortmund at the moment. Messi celebrates his 700th game for Barcelona with a 613th goal.
31' GREAT SAVE BÜRKI!
Barcelona suddenly have the wind in their sails. Messi comes weaving through the BVB defence and Bürki does well to block his shot. The hosts keep hold of it but Griezmann's pull-back from the left doesn't find a teammate.
29' SUAREZ SCORES
It's Messi through to Suarez again, and this time the flag stays down. Barca lead 1-0.
26' GRIEZMANN ON FOR DEMBELE
Sad to see former BVB man Dembele limp off like that, he's already had two injury layoffs this season. On comes Griezmann in his place.
25' GAME OVER FOR DEMBELE?
The Frenchman is down on the pitch with both of his boots off. This looks like curtains. Greizmann is preparing to replace him. It looks like he injured himself colliding with Guerreiro.
22' SUAREZ GOAL RULED OUT
Messi slips it through to the Uruguayan, who fires past Bürki - but the flag is correctly up for offside. Referee Clement Turpin has just confirmed with VAR.
16' BVB LOOKING TO BUILD
Dortmund have managed to get back on the ball in the last few minutes. Reus looks to slip a neat ball through to Schulz on the left, but he can't quite get there ahead of Sergi Roberto.
12' DEMBELE HAS A GO
But it's a weak effort from the Frenchman and easily gathered by Bürki. An interesting stat: Barcelona have only scored four goals in four games during this group stage campaign. That's certainly good news for Dortmund.
12' NICE FROM GUERREIRO
The Portugal international comes surging down the left and cuts inside, but Brandt can't quite get hold of the ball on the edge of the area, and Barca clear the danger.
10' MESSI INTO... BUSQUETS
He smacks his free-kick straight into Busquets. Training ground magic it was not.
9' FREE-KICK TO BARCA
Messi slips through the gears and wins a free-kick just on the edge of the area, after being brought down by Weigl.
7' DORTMUND KEEPING THEIR SHAPE
Barca are swinging from left to right, with former BVB man Dembele looking to get on the ball on his left flank. Rakitic gets a shot away but it's well blocked by Akanji.
4' BARCA ON THE BALL
The hosts have confiscated the ball since that early opening for Dortmund, but they are yet to really test Bürki. You feel there are mistakes in this Barca backline - remember, Jordi Alba, Gerard Pique and Nelson Semedo are all missing tonight.
2' BVB CLOSE TO THE OPENER!
A brilliant start from Dortmund as they come flying through the middle with Brandt. He clips it right to Hakimi, whose shot is saved by ter Stegen, and Nico Schulz - playing high on the left in front of Guerreiro - can't scramble it home. Encouraging stuff.
1' KICK-OFF
Suarez gets the ball rolling in Barcelona! The Dortmund fans are making themselves heard in the upper reaches of the Camp Nou.
CAPTAINS IN THE MIDDLE
A brief handshake between Messi and Reus as we prepare to get underway. The Argentine is making his 700th competitive outing for Barca tonight, not a bad innings.
KEEPING BARCA QUIET
The Spanish side have a formidable home record in this competition, but they failed to score against Slavia Prague in their last home outing.
PLAYERS IN THE TUNNEL
Five minutes until kick-off - grab something cold to drink, order a pizza and get ready for a Champions League cracker!
THE SPIRIT OF 96/97?
Admittedly Dortmund don't much enjoy travelling to Spain, having won on just one of their 15 previous visits to the country. Curiously, that victory - against Atletico Madrid - came in the 1996/97 season, when BVB went on to lift the Champions League trophy. So a win tonight would be a excellent omen indeed...
DORTMUND LOOKING TO BUILD ON MD1
The Bundesliga giants dominated Barcelona in the first leg at the Signal Iduna Park, where only heroics from Germany goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen - including a penalty save from Marco Reus - prevented them from claiming victory. BVB will hoping for a similar performance tonight as they bid to seal a place in the knockout stage of the Champions League for the sixth time in eight years.
TEAM NEWS - BARCA
Ernesto Valverde has opted for a 4-3-3 with the somewhat out-of-sorts Griezmann on the bench. Messi is joined by Suarez and former Dortmund man Ousmane Dembele in attack.
TEAM NEWS - BVB
Lucien Favre has sprung a couple of surprises this evening, with Sancho, Hazard and Götze all starting on the bench. With Piszczek and Schulz at right-back and left-back, Hakimi - BVB's top scorer in the Champions League this season with four goals - should start high on the right, with Guerreiro wide on the left. That leaves Reus tucked in behind Brandt in the middle, although the two could switch roles.
WELCOME ALONG
I know kick-off is still an hour away but can't you already hear the strains of that lovely Champions League anthem filtering through from Barcelona? Handel would be proud no doubt. We've got a huge game coming up tonight at the Camp Nou, and the stakes are deliciously high as well - a win for either team will ensure their progress to the last 16.
Line-ups
Barcelona: ter Stegen – Roberto, Umtiti, Lenglet, Firpo – Rakitic (Vidal 78'), Busquets, de Jong – Messi (c), Suarez (Wague 90'+1), Dembele (Griezmann 26')
Unused subs: Neto, Todibo, Arthur, Fati
Out: Alba (muscular), Pique (suspended), Semedo (muscular)
Coach: Ernesto Valverde
Dortmund: Bürki - Piszczek (Zagadou 76'), Akanji, Hummels, Guerreiro - Witsel, Weigl (Götze 85') - Hakimi, Reus (c), Schulz (Sancho 46') - Brandt
Unused subs: Hitz, Dahoud, Hazard, Schmelzer
Out: Alcacer (stomach bug), Bruun Larsen (knee), Delaney (ankle)
Coach: Lucien Favre
Match stats
- Dortmund have to better Inter Milan's result against Barca when they play Slavia Prague to reach the last 16.
- Sancho scored his second Champions League goal on his 12th appearance in the competition.
- Hakimi is BVB's top scorer in the current Champions League campaign with four goals, having grabbed braces in the wins over Slavia Prague and Inter.
- Dortmund have won on just one of their 15 previous visits to Spain (D5, L9), beating Atletico Madrid 1-0 in the 1996/97 Champions League group stage on their way to lifting the trophy.
- Winning the Champions League that season qualified BVB for the two-legged 1997 UEFA Super Cup, which they lost 3-1 on aggregate to Barcelona. That was the only time the clubs had met until this term.
- On Matchday 1, the two sides played out a 0-0 draw in Dortmund. As well as seeing Reus have his penalty saved, Brandt hit the crossbar as BVB had 14 shots on goal to Barca's seven.
- Dortmund have taken just a point from their last two Bundesliga outings, losing 4-0 to Bayern Munich before drawing with bottom side Paderborn. That was the first time they'd overhauled a three-goal deficit since a 3-3 draw with rivals Schalke in September 2008.
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