Borussia Dortmund faces a monumental task to avoid a legendary European upset at Signal Iduna Park as they welcome Sporting Lisbon during their Champions League round of 16 second leg matchup.
BVB dominated the second half of their February 11 match when they secured a 3-0 victory which shut out Sporting from getting any threatened attempts at scoring despite the Portuguese team's 13 shots.
The three goals for Dortmund in their recent victory resulted from Serhou Guirassy and Pascal Gross scoring via precise right-wing crosses into the back of the net.
The team concluded their Champions League campaign in tenth position with fifteen points short of qualifying for round 16 by a single point despite their lead during two of their league phase losses.
The German club VfL Bochum defeated Coach Kovac by a 2-0 score on Saturday as the team experienced its second loss through his management since his three-game tenure began.
The Bundesliga standings show BVB at position 11 with 29 points while RB Leipzig maintain their fourth-place spot eight points ahead of the team for last Champions League qualification.
The team of Kovac has secured three wins among their six matches in all competitions while suffering two losses during their recent three matches and managing eight goals while allowing eight goals throughout this period.
Pollution at Signal Iduna Park where Dortmund play has pushed their recent home record into uncertain territory despite three draws and three losses and one victory within seven previous home matches. They have maintained a record of not losing any home matches through a three-goal deficit during 31 fixtures.
As for Sporting, though they hit the crossbar against their German opponents in the 18th minute, that strike was from distance and was the closest they came to opening the scoring. Head coach Rui Borges's side are currently first in the Primeira Liga with 52 points, though they only lead second-placed Benfica by two points and have been held to stalemates in their last two league outings.
The Lions did manage to beat Manchester City by a three-goal margin in this season's edition of the Champions League when they triumphed 4-1 against the English champions on November 5, and they also defeated Bundesliga side Eintracht Frankfurt 3-0 in September 2022.
Sporting have failed to win their past three fixtures – drawing two and losing one – and have lost four of their last five in the Champions League. The Portuguese club are also winless in seven of their eight most recent away games, being held to a stalemate in three and succumbing to defeat in three, and have lost seven and drawn three of their past 10 on the road in Europe's premier competition.