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Barcelona's impressive season continues on Wednesday in the UEFA Champions League, with Borussia Dortmund coming to visit the Olympic Stadium for the first leg of the quarterfinals as both teams target a spot in the last four.

Like four other Champions League quarterfinalists, Barcelona are on treble watch and feel like genuine contenders to win the competition for the first time in a decade thanks to Hansi Flick's rejuvenation of the team. The likes of Lamine Yamal, Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha have been in stellar form all season long and are likely to be amongst Barcelona's key players on Wednesday as they aim for a strong start to the two-legged tie. They will help fill in the gap left by Dani Olmo, who will miss the game with a short-term adductor issue.

As for Dortmund, the Champions League is the final chance to create something special during a season to forget. Manager Niko Kovac, who replaced Nuri Sahin in January, has steadied the ship somewhat but Dortmund are still eighth in the Bundesliga and could miss out on European competition entirely next season if things do not go in their favor. They will be understaffed on Wednesday with Pascal Gross suspended and Marcel Sabitzer and Nico Schlotterbeck – starters in last year's Champions League final – out through injury.

Here's what you need to know before tuning in.

How to watch Barcelona vs. Borussia Dortmund, odds

  • Date: Wednesday, April 9 | Time: 3 p.m. ET
  • Location: Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys -- Barcelona, Spain
  • Live stream: Paramount+
  • Odds: Barcelona -290; Draw +440; Borussia Dortmund +650

Last meeting

These two sides last faced each other in the league phase, with Barcelona leaving Dortmund with a narrow 3-2 win. The game was goalless at halftime and Raphinha scored the game's opening goal in the 53rd minute, but Serhou Guirassy had an equalizer for Dortmund just seven minutes later. Ferran Torres restored Barcelona's lead in the 75th minute but Guirassy converted a penalty just three minutes later to level the score, though the hosts had no response for Torres' 85th minute game-winner.

What Barcelona are saying

Wednesday's clash with Borussia Dortmund will be Barcelona's fifth game in 14 days, roughly the halfway point of a stretch that will see them play a total of nine matches in 29 days. The team hit their first stumbling block of the period in Saturday's 1-1 draw against Real Betis, which did not put much of a dent in their hopes of winning La Liga thanks to Real Madrid's loss on the same day. The fatigue of a hectic period might be catching up to Barcelona, though, with manager Hansi Flick just happy to keep crossing games off the schedule.

"I'm happy with this one point because we have one game less and one point more," Flick said post-match on Saturday, per The Athletic. "There are days you create chances but the opponent withstands them and sits deep, and this was a game like that. … The team are doing good and we made the changes we wanted to make. The team in the second half tried everything."

Flick will likely rely on a handful of starters from the Betis game for Wednesday's clash, including Lewandowski and Yamal. The group should also include goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny, who is expected to start both Champions League quarterfinal games even as Marc-Andre ter Stegen resumes training. Ter Stegen, Barcelona's first choice until he ruptured his patella tendon in September, targets a return to play "soon" but admitted he does not have a set date in mind.

"I'm back after six months and I'm feeling physically better than ever, with lots of energy,' Ter Stegen said in an interview last week, per The Athletic. "I have a super team around me. I'm handling the physical strain and I'm hungry to play soon — but I don't have a specific date in mind. If I can get fit and training goes well, I'll give the coach a nudge when I'm ready."

What Borussia Dortmund are saying

Dortmund are clear-eyed about the fact that they are the clear underdogs in this tie, especially so now that Schlotterbeck will miss the rest of the season after tearing his meniscus last week. They did well without the center back on Saturday in a 4-1 victory at Freiburg, but a game against Barcelona – who are among the favorites to win the Champions League – is an entirely different prospect.

The high-stakes European tie has forced some introspection from Dortmund captain Emre Can, who tried to diagnose the malaise Dortmund have experienced all season long.

He said in a recent interview that the team does not have "a general attitude problem," but "I can't rule out that a player sometimes thinks that today 99% are enough in the Bundesliga. But that is not the case, the league is too strong for that. [The players] maybe trust the team-mate too much instead of doing three more steps themselves. This thinking must change. In every match."

That does not necessarily mean last year's Champions League finalists are not aiming high, though.

"[Dortmund are] not a top team," he said. "But we are a big club which has the ambition to win titles."

Projected lineups

Barcelona: Wojciech Szczesny, Jules Kounde, Ronald Araujo, Pau Cubarsi, Alejandro Balde, Gavi, Frenkie de Jong, Pedri, Lamine Yamal, Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha

Borussia Dortmund: Gregor Kobel, Waldemar Anton, Emre Can, Ramy Bensebaini, Julian Ryerson, Carney Chukwuemeka, Pascal Gross, Julian Brandt, Daniel Svensson, Serhou Guirassy, Karim Adeyemi

Player to watch

Lamine Yanal, Barcelona: Several players have enjoyed banner seasons for Barcelona, but Lamine Yamal is quickly becoming the main attraction for a team in search of their new superstar. He is already up to 13 goals and 17 assists in just his second full season as a professional, making his mark in games big and small. Expect Barcelona to target a sizable margin of victory in the first leg to manage a busy schedule, and expect the 17-year-old Yamal in particular to deliver the goods to ensure the hosts stay on track in their quest to win the Champions League for the first time in a decade.

Storyline to watch

Barcelona's jam-packed schedule: Barcelona will have most of their stats available to them but the big question is if those standouts will be at their best. Fixture congestion is hitting Barcelona hard at a crucial point in the season, which adds another layer of difficulty to the task of winning three trophies in a matter of weeks. It would be unwise to bet against even a fatigued Barcelona, but it is worth wondering whether the lack of rest will provide an opening for a Dortmund team that has little left to play for.

Prediction

Even if they are feeling the brunt of fixture congestion, a somewhat-gassed Barcelona should still have enough to get past a Dortmund side that has been unable to replicate the magic of last season's run to the final. It may not be Hansi Flick's side's best performance, but they should be able to get the job done and come out with a solid first leg advantage. Pick: Barcelona 3, Borussia Dortmund 1

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