Can Borussia Dortmund overcome Red Bull Salzburg's away goal advantage?
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Borussia Dortmund go to Austria on Thursday night trailing Red Bull Salzburg 2-1 in the Europa League. The Austrians put on a tremendous display in Germany a week ago as Red Bull tallied two crucial away goals.
The advantage is in Red Bull's corner, and Dortmund must score at least two times – while preventing Red Bull from scoring once – to qualify for the quarterfinals.
Dortmund's loss to Red Bull was just the club's second defeat in their last 13 matches. The team has had a great run of form since late December. Dortmund recovered at the weekend with a thrilling 3-2 win over Eintracht Frankfurt. Yet, Dortmund's biggest weakness once again reared its head in the league fixture, as Peter Stoger's defence let in late goals. Dortmund have allowed the 10th most goals in the Bundesliga this term (33) and have only their great goal scoring record to thank for keeping the side in the top four. The team has kept four clean sheets in their last 13 matches, but late game leads have been difficult to hold onto.
In the first leg, Red Bull were 2-0 up within the hour mark. Two goals from midfielder Valon Berisha had the Austrians in dreamland. However, Dortmund's Andre Schurrle, so often an underachiever since arriving at Dortmund, found the back of the net. Dortmund dominated in nearly every category as the team kept 65% possession. Red Bull laid back to hit Dortmund on the counterattack, which worked. The Austrians tallied six shots on target in the first leg, four more than Dortmund.
Red Bull are coming off of a 2-2 draw in their domestic league against Mattersburg. The club had one eye on their big Europa League tie with Dortmund. Since the Red Bull energy drink company bought the club in 2005, the team has never played as high-profile a match as Thursday night's.
Red Bull made eight changes to the team's starting XI against Mattersburg at the weekend. Manager Marco Rose wanted to give his players extra rest with the second leg match upcoming. Dortmund didn't have that luxury as Stoger had to field a strong squad against Eintracht. The two sides are competing for a top four finish, and Stoger couldn't sacrifice a place in next year's Champions League against their rivals. Dortmund was still able to make five changes to the starting XI, but the argument can be made that the team spent more energy holding off Eintracht to gain victory in the Bundesliga.
Dortmund showed in the round of 32 against Atalanta that the team can fight back to win European matches. The team needed a late goal to go through in Bergamo. This time, Dortmund need two goals to at the very least to qualify.
Stoger will come out with all guns blazing, which will allow Red Bull to sit back and counterattack. Dortmund's weak defence should be left open and Red Bull will go through with a home goal.
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