PREDICTED LINE-UPS | Borussia Dortmund vs. Atalanta | OneFootball

Atalanta travel to the Signal Iduna Park tonight to play the first leg of the Champions League playoffs against Borussia Dortmund for a place in the Round of 16 of the competition.

Dortmund kicked off their Champions League campaign with a 4-4 draw against Juventus. The German outfit gained momentum with back-to-back victories over Athletic Club and Copenhagen, scoring four goals in each of the two fixtures. However, they were outplayed by Manchester City in the next match, losing 4-1. Niko Kovac has made Dortmund a difficult side to beat as they have lost just once in their last 30 Bundesliga matches. The Emre Can-led side picked up two stellar wins against Wolfsburg and Mainz ahead of this clash, and they are expected to take an advantage in the tie tonight. 

Meanwhile, Atalanta approach this match on the back of a 2-0 victory over Lazio in their previous outing. Ederson drew first blood after netting from the spot and Nicola Zalewski dealt the final blow with his 60th-minute strike. The three points from the game helped La Dea settle themselves into sixth place on the Serie A standings, but they still have a long way to go to fight for the top-four places. Manager Rafaelle Palladino will miss Charles De Ketelaere for the match. Giacomo Raspadori remains as one of the attacking options alongside Nikola Krstovic and Gianluca Scamacca. 

Here are the predicted line-ups for the match according to Sky Italia:

Dortmund (3-4-2-1): Kobel; Ryerson, Anton, Bensebaini; Couto, Sabitzer, F. Nmecha, Svensson; Beier, Brandt; Guirassy.

Atalanta (3-4-2-1): Carnesecchi; Scalvini, Hien, Djimsiti; Zappa, De Roon, Ederson, Bernasconi; Pasalic, Zalewski; Scamacca.

Trambak Bhattacherjee | GIFN