The International Champions Cup continues this Thursday, July 28th as German Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund takes on Manchester City of the English Premier League at Longgang Stadium in Shenzhen, China. The 17-team International Cup tournament will be taking place at sites in China, the USA, Europe and Australia. Teams involved are Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, and FC Barcelona (Spain), Paris Saint-Germain (France), AC Milan, Juventus, and Inter Milan (Italy), FC Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund (Germany), Chelsea FC, Leicester City, Manchester City, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur, and Liverpool FC (England), Celtic FC (Scotland) and Melbourne Victory of Australia. If the game ends in a draw it will be decided by a penalty shootout.
Borussia Dortmund vs Manchester City – bet365 Soccer Betting Line:
- bet365 currently lists Man City as close the favorites to win the 90-minute game at 8/5 with Dortmund 13/8 and a draw at 12/5
Borussia Dortmund vs Manchester City – Head to Head:
- The two teams have played each other just twice in the past during the 2012/13 European Champions League tournament. They played to a 1-1 draw in Manchester with Dortmund winning 1-0 in Germany.
Borussia Dortmund – A Closer Look:
This will be Dortmund’s sixth preseason contest with four wins and a loss to 1860 München already behind them. The German club beat Erkenschwick 5-2 as well as downing Wuppertaler SV 2-0 and St. Pauli 3-2 before losing 1-0 to 1860 München. They then downed English Premier League side Manchester United 4-1 in China last Friday in their opening ICC tournament game. Borussia Dortmund finished as runners up in the Bundesliga last year with 78 points from 24 victories, six draws and four defeats. They scored 82 goals and allowed 34 against. The team finished 10 points back of champions Bayern Munich and qualified for the Champions League. The Dortmund club was formed in 1909 and since then it has been crowned league champions of Germany eight times. They’ve also won dive DFL Supercups, three DFB-Pokals, an Intercontinental Cup, a European Champions League title and a UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup. Their Cup Winners’ Cup triumph back in 1966 was the first European trophy won by a German team.
Manchester City – A Closer Look:
Manchester City lost their first preseason tilt 1-0 to German Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena in Germany last Wednesday. Their first ICC tournament match against cross-city Premier League rivals Manchester United was cancelled last Monday due to bad weather and pitch conditions in Beijing China. City has a new manager this season in Pep Guardiola of Spain. Guardiola spent the past three years with Bayern Munich and won the Bundesliga crown in each of his three seasons in Germany. Guardiola made a name for himself as one of the best managers in the world before that when he was with Spanish giants Barcelona. He’ll manager be missing several key players for this contest though as Joe Hart, Sergio Aguero, David Silva, Bacary Sagna and Kevin De Bruyne are still expected to be missing from camp following the recent Euro 2016 event in France. However, the club has acquired German international midfielder Ilkay Gundogan and Spanish international midfielder Nolito during the offseason. Man City placed fourth in the Premier League last season with 66 points from 19 victories, nine draws and 10 defeats. They had the same record as Man United, but had a better goal differential by scoring 71 times and allowing 41 against. They finished the year 15 points behind league champions Leicester City. Man City was founded in 1880 and has won 11 English league titles (four first-tier and seven second-tier) as well as five FA Cups, four League Cups and a UEFA Cup Winners Cup.
Borussia Dortmund vs Manchester City – Takeaway:
This is another excellent test for two teams which hope to challenge for the Champions League title this season along with their domestic league championships.
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by Ian S. Palmer