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- Hamann makes surprise Barca claim
- Believes Dortmund will beat Catalans
- Criticised Barcelona’s ‘open’ defence
WHAT HAPPENED?
Former Germany international Hamann, currently working as a TV pundit for Sky Sport Germany, made a bold Champions League quarter-final prediction, backing Borussia Dortmund to beat Barcelona and book a berth in the last four. Dortmund progressed to the quarter-finals after overcoming Lille 3-2 on aggregate. Barca, meanwhile, beat Benfica 4-1 across two legs.
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THE BIGGER PICTURE
After securing a hard-fought victory to reach the Champions League quarter-finals with a spirited performance at Lille on Wednesday evening, Borussia Dortmund will now face Europe’s top-scoring team, Barcelona, next month. Despite being in 10th place in the Bundesliga, Dortmund are widely regarded as the underdogs against Hansi Flick’s men, who are arguably the best team in the world and the bookmaker’s favourites to go all the way following Liverpool’s elimination against PSG. However, Hamann is not ready to write Dortmund off and predicted a win for the Bundesliga outfit.
WHAT DIDI HAMANN SAID
The former Bayern and Germany international, himself a Champions League winner with Liverpool in 2005, said on Sky on Wednesday: “Barcelona are wide open at the back and I don’t know if that will hold up in the long run. They score a lot of goals, of course, because they have some incredible players up front, but Dortmund know what it takes, they showed that last year. I think they’ll knock Barca out over the course of the two games.”
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WHAT NEXT FOR BARCELONA AND DORTMUND?
The Catalans will turn their attention towards La Liga, where they are currently in first place, level on points with Real Madrid. Flick and Co. have a game in hand, though, and they visit Atletico Madrid on Sunday in what could be a potential title-decider.
Meanwhile, Dortmund will take on sixth-placed RB Leipzig on Saturday as they look to close the gap between them and the top four.
