Preview: Borussia Dortmund vs. Manchester City

If Roberto Mancini was brutally honest, this is fixture that he could do without his Manchester City side playing.

They are already out of the competition and can only qualify for the Europa League - a competition that the Premier League champions have very little interest in.

However, should they defeat Borussia Dortmund and Ajax fail to defeat Real Madrid in the Spanish capital, that is exactly where Mancini's men will find themselves next year.

It is also a relatively meaningless encounter for Dortmund, who have already secured top spot ahead of Real Madrid.

Previous trips to Germany have not ended well for City. From five outings, they have won only once and lost four times. In contrast, Dortmund have never lost to English opposition on their own patch.

Despite his team's early omission, Mancini is expected to name a strong team for the match, although Aleksandar Kolarov is likely to miss out with a muscular problem.

Mancini's opposite number Jurgen Klopp may use the match to give some of his squad players an outing.

Recent form

Dortmund: DDWWW

Man City: DWDDW

Possible starting lineups:

Dortmund: Weidenfeller; Hummels, Piszczek, Subotic, Schmelzer; Perisic, Bender, K. Grosskreutz; Leitner, Reus; Lewandowski

Man City: Hart; Zabaleta, Kompany, Nastasic, Clichy; Y Toure, Garcia, Nasri; Silva, Balotelli; Aguero

Sports Mole says: 2-1