UEFA Champions League 2018-19, Borussia Dortmund vs Atletico Madrid: Combined XI
Exactly 20 years later, Borussia Dortmund and Atletico Madrid cross paths again in Europe. It was a group fixture then, it's a group fixture now. Except, it's more exciting and open contest (on paper at least), this time around. The Yellow Submarine are on a frightening run of form, scoring 22 times in the last five games in all competitions, whereas the Rojiblancos are, as always, the dark horses to watch out.
Both sides are favourite to progress through the group and so far, have picked up the maximum points from previous fixtures as it's written on the tin. However, this is a clash billed as a decider for the winners of Group A; an unstoppable force colliding with an immovable object. Fireworks are guaranteed.
Ahead of the intriguing encounter, let's look at a combined XI featuring the stars of Dortmund and Atletico:
Goalkeeper: Roman Burki
Make no mistake: Jan Oblak is a world-class goalkeeper (probably among the top five best in the world) and would conveniently walk into any team. But it's just that Roman Burki is currently enjoying a purple patch in the nets and that's too hard to ignore. He's also maintained two clean sheets from as many games for Dortmund in this competition (Oblak has none) whilst also pulling off eight stops to the Slovenian's three.
That's mainly because the Atletico No.1 has a great defence ahead of him, while Burki doesn't exactly enjoy that luxury. Yet, he's come up trumps everytime he's tested and is one of the instrumental reasons behind Dortmund's barnstorming start to the campaign. The Swiss shot-stopper will prove to be a tough nut for Griezmann and the likes to crack.