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Borussia Dortmund hosts Villareal in a Champions League match on CBS Sports Network this afternoon
Sep 8, 2026
at
9:08 am ET
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3 min read
The league phase of the new Champions League campaign starts with six matches across Europe on Tuesday. All of them are available for streaming on Paramount+. Two will also be shown on CBS Sports Network: The 12:45 p.m. ET match between host Club Brugge and Aston Villa, and the 3 p.m. ET start as Borussia Dortmund of the German Bundesliga welcome Villareal of Spain’s La Liga in a fairly sudden rematch. Bet $5+ on any of Tuesday’s games and get $200 in bonus bets when you bet at DraftKings Sportsbook:
That’s the one I will look at today, and note that you can check out SportsLine for Martin Green’s plays on the 3 p.m. ET match between Real Madrid and Inter Milan, one of the marquee games Tuesday. According to DraftKings betting splits for my match, Dortmund is taking nearly 100% of action at -130 on the handle and via tickets. The site isn’t offering splits on the total, which opened at 2.5 but is now 3.5.
You can try soccer betting on the best sports betting apps, and you need to check out the SportsLine Projection Model for Champions League and get picks on games from the simulations. You can also get spot-on analysis from our experts.
Dortmund-Villareal DraftKings pick
Borussia Dortmund -130
Rather surprisingly — to me anyway — these clubs have met just once previously in this competition, and it was in November on Matchday 5 of the UCL league phase. Dortmund rolled 4-0 at home behind two goals from Serhou Guirassy (45’+2′, 54′). Karim Adeyemi (58′) and Daniel Svensson (90’+5) also found the net. Villareal was down to 10 men in the 52nd minute after Juan Foyth was sent off with a red card.
That marked Dortmund’s third straight victory against a La Liga club, and they outscored them 11-2 Those are as many wins as the German side had in its previous 13 fixtures against Spanish sides (seven losses, three draws). Dortmund ended up going out in last season’s knockout round playoffs to Serie A side Atlanta. The Germans won the first leg 2-0 at home but dropped the away second 4-1. I actually remember that, because there were four total goals scored in second-half stoppage time, all in the seventh minute of it or later, which I just couldn’t remember seeing before.
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Borussia Dortmund are off to a good domestic start, as they sit tied atop the Bundesliga with six points through two matches, a 3-2 away win at TSG Hoffenheim and 2-0 home victory against Hamburg SV. Guirhassy leads the side with two Bundesliga goals and is the overall -115 goal scoring favorite today.
In their last 23 home games in the Champions League, BVB have recorded 14 wins, along with seven draws and just two losses — to Barcelona (December 2024) and Inter (January). They are 4-1 in their past five at home vs. La Liga sides. Across the last two UCLs, Guirassy has been directly involved in 24 goals in 24 appearances (17 goals, 7 assists). Only Harry Kane (29) and Raphinha (26) have more combined goals and assists in the same span.
Villareal were not able to advance out of last season’s UCL league phase, and in fact finished 35th of 36 clubs with a single point in eight matches and a minus-13 goal differential. Only Kazakhstan side Kairat Almaty was worse.
Things haven’t been much better in the early going of La Liga this season for Villareal, with two draws and two losses in four and a minus-2 goal differential. Villareal have scored two in three of the four but obviously allowed at least two in those. Quick turnaround, too, after losing 3-2 at home to Deportivo on Saturday. Nicolas Pépé leads the Yellow Submarine with two goals. One of Villareal’s big offseason additions was defender Carlos Romero, but he missed Saturday’s match and not likely to go today. Bet on Champions League using the latest FanDuel promo code for up to $350 in bonus bets:
The Spanish side won two of its first three matches in Germany, but the club has since gone six games there without another victory (three draws, three losses). Villareal have never won on Champions League Matchday 1 with three draws and two losses. It also has lost five straight UCL away games overall, outscored 13-0. The last club to lose straight away without scoring was Malmö between September 2015 and December 2021 (six games). Check out other expert picks in the SportsLine daily newsletter.
