Wednesday March 26, 19:45
Live on BT Sport 3
Our Coupe de France runneth over last night, as Angers beat Guingamp 2-0 to reach the final, and net us a chunky winner.
Like a medieval drunkard, we'll stay in our cups, and switch our attention to Germany's DFB Pokal semi-finals. The latest edition of Der Klassiker will take place in Munich, as Bayern face Borussia Dortmund.
Just a few weeks ago, I was in Munich to watch Bayern sweep aside their old rivals 4-1 in the league. Carlo Ancelotti's men made a lightning-fast start, racing into a 2-0 lead inside ten minutes. Dortmund never really recovered from that early salvo, and suffered a humbling defeat.
Since then, much has changed. Bayern have been dumped out of the Champions League by Real Madrid, and they have dropped points in each of their last two Bundesliga matches. A bit of sloppiness has crept into their play, and a recent fallout between Ancelotti and his combustible French winger Franck Ribery has highlighted the tension in the camp.
Since Der Klassiker, Dortmund have suffered a traumatic attack on their team bus, and that unquestionably contributed to their Champions League exit to Monaco. However, they have sparkled in the league, scoring three goals in each of their recent wins over Eintracht Frankfurt and Borussia Monchengladbach.
BVB were without key players like Marco Reus and Julian Weigl for their last visit to Munich, but both should start tonight, in what is Dortmund's last shot at salvaging a frustrating campaign. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is the league's top scorer with 27 goals, and is in form, having scored against both Frankfurt and Gladbach.
This is a huge night for the Dortmund coach Thomas Tuchel. Although he is regarded as one of the brightest thinkers in the game, he is yet to win a trophy, and success tonight would represent a huge step forward. Players like Reus and Aubameyang are also keen to win their first proper silverware in BVB colours.
Bayern will pick their strongest side, and will be confident of success after what they did to Dortmund a few short weeks ago. Robert Lewandowski has scored eight goals against his former employers since leaving Dortmund, and he will once again lead the attack.
It's tempting to use today's bet to back Lewandowski to score at 1.70, given his superb record in general this season, and the fact he scored twice in that 4-1 success. Instead I'm going to go for a slightly bigger price, and back the visitors to keep it close. I think this will be a different game to the league encounter - Reus and Weigl are back, and Bayern aren't playing quite as well as they were a few weeks ago. I'll give Dortmund a goal start.
Recommended Bet
Back Borussia Dortmund +1.0 on the Asian Handicap at [2.33]
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