OMNISPORT

Jurgen Klopp has never shirked from the fact that Borussia Dortmund have flirted with disaster this season, but three Bundesliga wins in a row suggests they are beginning to find the form that has served them so well in Europe.

Dortmund impressively finished top of UEFA Champions League Group D with just one defeat, scoring 14 goals, which set up a last-16 meeting with Juventus.

And yet Klopp's men went into the mid-season break in the Bundesliga's bottom two, seemingly embroiled in a relegation battle.

For a club more used to fighting it out at the summit with Bayern Munich, many anticipated a revival in 2015, but it took a couple of games to begin - a 1-0 home loss to Augsburg at the start of February apparently the nadir.

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Wins over Freiburg, Mainz and Stuttgart have seen Dortmund climb to the relative comfort of mid-table, putting them in good shape ahead of Tuesday's trip to Turin.

Meetings between Dortmund and Juve have been surprisingly scarce, but the last one proved memorable for the German side.

Munich played host to the 1996-97 Champions League final, where Karl-Heinz Riedle scored twice and Lars Ricken was on target in a 3-1 triumph against Juve.

Dortmund's name has not been engraved on the trophy since then, with their Wembley defeat to Bayern two years ago the closest they have come.

Juve's wait has been longer. The Italians were the holders when Dortmund won it, having beaten Ajax the year before - another Champions League success secured by a side on home soil, as the final was played in Rome.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

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It makes for a positive omen as far as Dortmund are concerned, given that the showpiece is in Munich this season.

But advancing past Juve represents a sizeable challenge, with Massimiliano Allegri's charges unbeaten in normal time since October's Serie A reverse to Genoa.

Boasting a nine-point advantage at the top of the table, Juve look set for a fourth consecutive Italian title, but they have not made it past the last eight of the Champions League since the 2002-03 campaign, when they were eventually beaten by Milan in the final.

The hosts had Arturo Vidal back in full training on Sunday following a minor injury, while Klopp will hope the flu bug that has affected his team will clear up and increase the options at his disposal, with the likes of Erik Durm, Jakub Blaszczykowski, Mats Hummels and Jeremy Dudziak having been impacted.

MATCH FACTS

• Juventus and Borussia Dortmund last met in the final of the Champions League back in 1997. The Ruhr side won 3-1 in Munich.
• Dortmund have won their last two encounters with Juventus, both in the Champions League: in November 1995 and May 1997.
• Dortmund have never kept a clean sheet against Juventus in their seven competitive encounters.
• Juventus have made it to the knockout stages of the Champions League for only the second time in the past six seasons (2012/13 and 2014/15).
• Juventus have only lost two of their last 28 Champions League games on home soil (W17 D9), both were against Bayern Munich.
• Only Monaco (4) scored fewer goals than Juventus (7, like Basel and Leverkusen) in this season’s group stages among the 16 teams still left in the competition. The Old Lady had only four different goalscorers, the lowest tally alongside Monaco.
• Borussia Dortmund have reached the knockout stages of the Champions League for the third consecutive season, which hadn’t happened since their three straight appearances in the latter stages from 1995/96 to 1997/98.
• Borussia Dortmund have won only one of their last eight Champions League knockout games played away from home (D3 L4, including final 2013 in Wembley), it was against Zenit St Petersburg in February 2014 (4-2).
• 13 of Dortmund's 14 Champions League goals this season have been scored from open play.
• Dortmund striker Adrian Ramos has scored three goals in only 62 minutes during his three away games in the Champions League this season. He’s the top scoring substitute in this season’s competition.