Borussia Dortmund vs Zenit Saint Petersburg Preview ,Live Streaming

Zenit St Petersburg

Borussia Dortmund

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• KO 17:00
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Borussia Dortmund vs. Zenit St. Petersburg was once a football hipster dream tie. In this year's edition of the UEFA Champions League, it's more of an afterthought. Both teams are decent enough, but they've lost a lot of their luster recently and it's tough to imagine either team making a serious run for the title in this edition of the tournament.

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE LAST 16 FIRST LEG
Venue: Petrovsky Stadium Date: Tuesday, 25 February Kick-off: 17:00 GMT
Coverage: BBC Sport website, BBC Radio 5 live

Key Matchups

Sebastian Kehl or alternative vs. Viktor Fayzulin - Sven Bender's return to action this weekend was supposed to be a huge boost to Dortmund's Champions League campaign, but he picked up a separate injury against Hamburg and could face a long spell on the sidelines. Sebastian Kehl is the most likely replacement, but his age has shown this season and he didn't enter the game when Bender had to exit over the weekend.

Whether Kehl starts or Henrikh Mkhitaryan is moved into a more defensive position, Dortmund is going to have a tough time containing Viktor Fayzulin, the obvious beneficiary of this development. Whether he starts in the center of midfield or wide, he's going to come into the central areas that Bender would usually be defending. Most of Zenit's attacks will run through him and Dortmund will need to have a plan to contain him.

Aleksandr Anyukov and Tomáš Hubočan vs. Marco Reus - Reus hasn't been in top form since the Bundesliga's return from winter break, but he's still one of the most dangerous attacking players in the world, and as poorly as Saturday's game against Hamburg went, it was still good for him to get 45 minutes in. He should be fit for this match, and he'll cause problems for Zenit's right back and right central defender. As a left winger, he does a lot of cutting inside, but he can cut wide and hit a cross too. His biggest quality is his unpredictability and it will take a team effort to contain him. If Aleksandr Anyukov and Tomáš Hubočan don't have perfect communication, they'll get torn apart.

Prediction

Zenit are in poor form and have plenty of injury troubles, but Dortmund aren't doing much better on either front. Dortmund's attacking talent and the fact that they've actually played league games recently make them slight favorites, but expect Zenit to do just barely enough to keep the return leg interesting. 1-1 draw.