Dortmund's underachiever now on the other side - and he shines with Newcastle

No team has yet managed to take a decisive lead in the 'deadly' Group F of the Champions League. Newcastle lead the table by four points and could take a big step towards the last 16 on Wednesday night. Borussia Dortmund, on the other hand, will be hoping to spring a surprise at St James' Park after picking up just one point from their opening two games to keep their chances of progressing to the knockout stages alive.

Newcastle have stepped onto the main stage of continental club football after more than 20 years and have entered Group F, which is rightly regarded as the "group of death." Among their opponents are French PSG, AC Milan, and tonights German rivals Dortmund. After two rounds, the situation is extremely balanced. The English team is doing better than expected, after all, they haven't lost and lead the group.

Borussia, on the other hand, cannot be satisfied, because they have only one point on their account and have not scored a single goal. First, they played in Paris and lost to PSG with 0-2, and three weeks ago, the Millionaires welcomed Milan and ended up drawing with them in a goalless duel. Meanwhile, Newcastle made their debut in Italy and played a lucky 0-0 with the Milan club, then outclassed PSG 4-1 at St. James's Park.

The Magpies did not start very well in this year's Premier League campaign and it will certainly not be easy for them to defend the fourth position, but lately they are entering a recognizable form. In the previous five matches, black and white won four times and only drew once. In that period, Sheffield United was overpowered 8-0, and last weekend they defeated Crystal Palace 4-0 without much difficulty.

Newcastle manager Eddie Howe cannot rely on Barnes, Botman and Miley, while Willock is unlikely to feature yet.

"This group has a huge charge and every duel is of extremely high quality. We are happy that we were not afraid of PSG and deservedly won, so we want to use the support of the great fans again. But Dortmund are not a much weaker opponent and they will want to cause us problems from the first whistle until the very end," said 45-year-old Howe.

In addition to the very good condition that is now reflected in eight competitive games without defeat, the exceptional effectiveness can serve as an argument for a good result in favor of the Magpies. By comparison, the up-and-coming opponents from the Ruhr area of Germany have fired 32 shots on goal in the first two Champions League rounds, while Newcastle have only 18. While BVB have zero goals, Alexander Isak and his colleagues have scored four.

The former Dortmund striker did not manage in Germany, where he arrived from AIK after coming of age. He didn't even manage to shake the net once in the yellow and black jersey and they didn't know what to do with him at Westfalen. The Swede was reborn after moving to Sociedad. Newcastle paid him 70 million euros the previous summer, and did not make a mistake as the tall striker presented himself with 10 goals in the Premier League. In the current campaign, Isak is even more successful; he already has six goals to his name in eight championship duels. Accordingly, he is the biggest threat and potential goalscorer on Wednesday night against his former team.

It should be noted that Newcastle have never lost to a German team in their history in five attempts - four wins and a draw. In general, home advantage is another aspect that should not be underestimated, especially since the excellent atmosphere in the north of England during the return to the Champions League went viral three weeks ago and will certainly not die down on Wednesday night.

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The club from Westphalia narrowly missed out on the German throne last year, and now, after 12 long years, they would like to finally get it back. In the eight matches of the Bundesliga so far, BVB has not experienced a single defeat and has six victories on its account. With 20 points, they sit fourth, just two steps away from the leading Leverkusen. However, on Friday, they struggled against underrated Werder Bremen and recorded a tight 1-0 win.

A balanced battle can be expected in the clash between two opponents who have never met before, but Newcastle are still considered a slight favorite. Dortmund coach Edin Terzic is missing Meunier, Morey, Duranville, Ryerson and probably Moukoko.

"Newcastle have made huge progress in recent years and is one of the giants of European football. We haven't won yet in a strong group and now we have another extremely difficult battle waiting for us, but we have the qualities to win against Newcastle," Terzic said.

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Group stage - matchday 3

Tuesday

Inter - Salzburg 2-1 (1-0)

/Sanchez 19, Calhanoglu 63 pen - Gloukh 57/

Galatasaray - Bayern 1-3 (1-1)

/Icardi 30 pen - Coman 8, Kane 73, Musiala 79/

Man. Utd. - Copenhagen 1-0 (0-0)

/Maguire 72/

Union Berlin - Napoli 0-1 (0-0)

/Raspadori 65/

Sevilla - Arsenal 1-2 (0-1)

/Gudelj 59 - Martinelli 45+4, Gabriel Jesus 53/

Benfica - Sociedad 0-1 (0-0)

/Barrenetxea 63/

Lens - PSV 1-1 (0-0)

/Wahi 65 - Bakayoko 55/

Braga - Real Madrid 1-2 (0-1)

/Djalo 63 - Rodrygo 16, Bellingham 61/

Wednesday

19.45: (1.90) Feyenoord (3.70) Lazio (4.40)

19.45: (1.18) Barcelona (8.50) Shakhtar (16.0)

22.00: (1.80) PSG (3.70) Milan (5.00)

22.00: (1.80) Newcastle (3.70) Dortmund (5.00)

22.00: (3.90) Celtic (3.60) Atl.Madrid (2.05)

22.00: (15.0) Young Boys (7.25) Man.City (1.22)

22.00: (1.28) RB Leipzig (6.75) Crvena Zvezda (10.5)

22.00: (3.80) Antwerp (3.50) Porto (2.10)

***odds are subject to change