Dortmund leave out Dembele, Schmelzer in Monaco

Monaco (AFP) – Borussia Dortmund coach Thomas Tuchel has left both Marcel Schmelzer and Ousmane Dembele out of his starting line-up for Wednesday’s Champions League quarter-final second leg in Monaco.

The duo start on the bench along with Sven Bender as Erik Durm, Raphael Guerreiro and Matthias Ginter all start for the German club, who are looking to overturn a 3-2 first-leg deficit at the Stade Louis II.

The changes mean Tuchel could send his side out in a 3-5-2 formation, with Marco Reus — who missed the first leg — supporting one-time Monaco player Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in attack.

There is no Marc Bartra, the Spanish defender who needed surgery on a broken wrist suffered in the bomb attack on the Dortmund team’s bus that forced the first leg to be postponed by 24 hours.

Monaco are without influential Brazilian midfielder Fabinho, who missed a penalty in the first leg, due to suspension, so Tiemoue Bakayoko and Joao Moutinho partner one another in midfield.

Almamy Toure starts at right-back with Djibril Sidibe still recovering from appendicitis, while teenage prodigy Kylian Mbappe plays alongside Radamel Falcao up front.

Mbappe scored twice in the first leg, either side of a Bender own goal, to leave Monaco in pole position to reach the semi-finals for the first time in 13 years. 

Starting line-ups:

Monaco (4-4-2): Danijel Subasic; Almamy Toure, Kamil Glik, Jemerson, Benjamin Mendy; Bernardo Silva, Tiemoue Bakayoko, Joao Moutinho, Thomas Lemar; Kylian Mbappe, Radamel Falcao (capt)

Coach: Leonardo Jardim (POR)

Borussia Dortmund (3-5-2): Roman Burki; Lukasz Piszczek, Sokratis Papastathopoulos, Matthias Ginter; Erik Durm, Julian Weigl, Nuri Sahin, Shinji Kagawa, Raphael Guerreiro; Marco Reus (capt), Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang

Coach: Thomas Tuchel (GER)

Referee: Damir Skomina (SLO)