Borussia Dortmund vs Real Madrid, UEFA Champions League Semi-Final: Open Thread

For today’s UEFA Champions League semi-final first leg match between Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid, all eyes will be on poor Mario Gotze who — while still a Borussia Dortmund player — has signed a pre-agreement to join Bayern Munich this summer for a transfer fee believed to be £32 millon.

The timing of Bayern Munich leaking the information to the press has to be questioned, on the eve of Borussia Dortmund’s massive match. Not only could it undermine the mental ability of Gotze, but it puts manager Jurgen Klopp and Gotze’s teammates under pressure knowing that the player will be leaving soon. On top of that, Dortmund could face Bayern Munich in the final if they can overcome Real Madrid. Talk about an awkward situation.

In the group stage of this season’s UEFA Champions League, Borussia Dortmund faced Real Madrid twice, with the German team winning 2-1 and drawing the other match 2-2.

Borussia Dortmund starting XI: Weidenfeller; Piszczek, Subotic, Hummels, Schmelzer; Gündogan, Bender; Kuba, Götze, Reus; Lewandowski.

Real Madrid starting XI: Diego López, Ramos, Varane, Pepe, Coentrao, Alonso, Khedira; Modric, Ozil, Ronaldo; Higuain.

For viewers in the United States, today’s match will be televised live on FX with the kick-off scheduled for 2:45pm ET. The game will also be shown live on FOX Soccer 2Go.

Before, during or after today’s match, join the conversation with soccer fans from around the world in the comments section below.