Borussia
Dortmund start their UEFA Champions League campaign with a tough trip to Napoli
following their defeat in the final last season. The Bundesliga club upset the
odds to reach the Wembley showdown in May, overcoming Real Madrid in the
semi-final before seeing their dreams of glory shattered by German rivals
Bayern Munich. Jurgen Klopp's side also finished runners-up to Bayern domestically,
but despite losing key player Mario Gotze to their rivals, many consider
Dortmund to possess a significantly stronger squad this term having beaten
their domestic rival Bayern in the super cup.
The
arrivals of Henrik Mkhitaryan, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Sokratis
Papastathopoulos have helped them reel off five league wins on the bounce at
the start of the campaign. But they travel to Naples on Wednesday with a
relatively poor record against Italian opposition. From their 27 matches, they
have won nine and lost 14, and although Napoli were defeated in each of their
two previous home matches in Europe, Rafael Benitez's side have not suffered a
Serie A loss at the Stadio San Paolo in 2013, winning 10 of their 12
fixtures.
The
visitors warmed up for their journey to Italy with a brilliant 6-2 win over Hamburg
and Marco Reus, who grabbed their fifth, is feeling positive about the team's
prospects. He told the Bundesliga's official website: "We didn't give up
at 2-2 and demanded more of ourselves, now we focus on the Champions League.
"More intensity like that over a full 90 minutes and we'll be difficult to
beat. I've got my rhythm and confidence back. All I care about is football, I
love it, and I love this team. On the other hands Napoli also had the
misfortune of seeing their star player depart in the close-season as Edinson
Cavani joined Paris Saint-Germain.
However,
with the help of the Uruguayan's €64.5 million price tag, they were able to
bring in a plethora of reinforcements, including Real Madrid trio Gonzalo
Higuain, Jose Callejon and Raul Albiol, as well as Dries Mertens, Pablo Armero
and Duvan Zapata. Benitez's men go into their opener full of confidence after
picking up a maximum nine points from their opening three matches, with their
most recent outing seeing them comfortably dispose of Atalanta at home. The
Spanish boss has history in this competition, having led Premier League club
Liverpool to the crown against the odds in 2005.
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