Dortmund – Monterrey

Borussia should have no trouble outplaying their Mexican opponent

The programme of matches of the 1/8 finals will be completed by the confrontation between Borussia Dortmund and Mexican club Monterrey. It would seem that the match has a clear favourite. However, in the barely started play-offs with a similar status went home Inter, who lost to Fluminense, and Manchester City, who lost to Arabian Al-Hilal in extra time. Moreover, the group stage of the Italian vice-champion is very similar to the one Borussia went through. On the one hand, both teams won twice and drew once each. On the other hand, each game ended in favour of the Milanese and Dortmund clubs at the expense of significant effort and hard fighting, without "game reserve" and ease. Everyone knows how it ended for Inter. Should we expect Borussia to quietly win the opening round of the playoffs? Monterrey is the only club that took points away from the aforementioned Inter in the group stage. The Mexican team went through its group stage without defeat. The team in none of the meetings gave the impression of being immature and unready for great achievements. There is no doubt that Sergio Ramos and company will aim for victory in the 1/8 finals. Bookmakers have identified the representative of Europe as the favourite for the upcoming confrontation, offering odds of 1.83 on his victory. In the first round of the group stage Borussia players were heavy. Whether it was the period of the tournament, or whether the American heat affected, but only Kobel prevented the "bumblebees" from losing to Fluminense. With Mamelodi Sundowns, the German club competed almost on equal terms, defeating their opponents 4-3 thanks to their class advantage. With Ulsan, the Bumblebees had no problems, but scored just one goal in a 1-0 win. Monterrey secured their participation in the playoffs only after the third round of the group stage, but did not lose at the Club World Cup to anyone. In the first round the Mexicans played on equal terms with Inter (1:1), then made peace with River Plate (0:0), and finished the stage with a 4:0 defeat of Urawa. Monterrey's players showed maximum commitment and will do it again. We bet that the Mexican club will not lose the main time of the match with Borussia.