It’s the top team in Spain facing off against a German soccer powerhouse in the latest round of Champions League matches.
A rematch of last season’s final between Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund is the main event on Tuesday, followed by Barcelona taking on Bayern Munich on Wednesday. This matchup continues a rivalry that has mostly favored Bayern in Europe’s top club competition.
All four teams have been European champions in the last 30 years, but their starts to this season’s new format have been mixed.
Dortmund has won both of their opening matches—3-0 against Club Brugge and 7-1 against Celtic—making them the early leaders and highest scorers in the league stage. In this format, all 36 teams will play eight matches: four at home and four away.
Similar to last season, when Dortmund surprisingly reached the Champions League final but lost to Madrid, they have performed better in Europe than in the Bundesliga. Just days after their big win against Celtic, Dortmund lost to Union Berlin.
On the other hand, Madrid recently suffered a surprising 1-0 defeat against Lille, marking their first loss in the competition since the semifinals of the 2022-23 season.
In fact, the second round of matches saw some surprises, including Bayern losing 1-0 to Aston Villa, ending their unbeaten streak under new coach Vincent Kompany.
Now, Bayern travels to Barcelona looking for their seventh consecutive win against them, a streak that includes a painful 8-2 loss for Barcelona in the quarterfinals in 2020. Hansi Flick, who was in charge of Bayern that night, is now coaching Barcelona.