A Dortmund Homecoming, a Milanese Aria
Deivisson dos Santos returns to Dortmund with Internazionale, and the ghosts of old European nights rise for a fixture that has decided destinies before.
The Champions League has always had its operas, and on the twelfth of December Dortmund stages a new act in a drama whose libretto was written decades ago. Borussia Dortmund and FC Internazionale Milano have met in knockouts, traded blows in group stages, and now they meet again with the old tension of two clubs who believe in destiny.
This is a fixture that has ended runs and begun them. The last time these two met, in February 2058, Dortmund won 2-0 at home and showed the resolve that carried them through that European spring. Inter won the first leg 2-1 in Milan, but the second act belonged to the yellow wall. Now the stage is set for another duel, and the subplot is irresistible: Deivisson dos Santos, the man who managed Dortmund from 2059 to 2062, returns in Inter colours, a conductor now leading the opposing orchestra.
Dortmund come into this with a 4-2-3-1 shape that has served them well: ten wins, six draws, and only one defeat in their last seventeen games in that system. Their home record against a 4-2-3-1 is even more menacing: four wins and three draws in seven, with a clear-cut chance every sixty minutes and one conceded every three hundred and thirty. Inter, though, are not a side to be cowed by numbers. Their own 4-2-3-1 has produced twelve wins, three draws, and one defeat in sixteen, and they create a clear-cut chance every forty-five minutes. Against a 4-2-3-1 they are dangerous: three wins, one draw, one defeat, and a chance every thirty minutes.
The key duels will be fought on the flanks. Marvin Kiala, Dortmund's right winger, has averaged 7.36 in his recent games and will test Misael Costa, the Inter left-back rated 7.0. On the other side, Andreas Altenhöfer, with his pace and acceleration, faces Robespierre, a full-back whose tackling is rated 15 against Altenhöfer's dribbling of 12. That is the battle Dortmund must win if they are to stretch Inter's back line. For Inter, Braian Romero, averaging 7.82 over his last four games, will run at Antonius Maertens, Dortmund's right-back rated 6.75. Romero is in the form of his life, and Maertens is tired.
Fatigue is a theme for both sides. Dortmund's Jules Luvovadio is jaded, Ikechukwu Okeke tired, and Antonius Maertens, Đorđe Petrović, and Morad Hattab all carry the wear of a long autumn. Inter are no fresher: Cătălin Cozma, Giovanni Orlando, Robespierre, and Rio Supriyadi are all tired, and Braian Romero is both tired and in form. Marcelo, the striker, is jaded but has averaged 7.45 over his last four games.
Dortmund's danger man is Altenhöfer, with three goals in his last five games and a rating of 8.4 in one of them. But Inter's Cozma, a defensive midfielder by trade, has three assists and a goal in his last five, and his passing from deep could unlock Dortmund's high press. The last meeting in Dortmund ended 2-0 to the home side, and Inter have not won in this stadium since the first leg of that 2058 tie. But this is a different Inter, managed by a man who knows Dortmund's heart.
Inter's title runs tell a story of their own: five consecutive Serie A titles from 2005/06 to 2009/10, a dynasty that ended abruptly. They know how to win, and they know how to suffer. Dortmund, with forty-two major titles, are a club of European pedigree, but they have been stung by Saudi interest in their veteran Abdullahi Solomon, and that is a distraction they cannot afford.
The stage is set, the arias are written, and the only thing left is the performance. On the twelfth of December, Dortmund and Inter will write another verse in a ballad that has always been about more than ninety minutes. It will be about memory, about return, about the weight of a shirt and the roar of a crowd. And when the final whistle blows, one of these two will walk off knowing that destiny has, once again, had its say.