How Borussia Dortmund Will Try to Carry Newfound Momentum into Juventus Clash

Borussia Dortmund will take a moment's rest from their Bundesliga recovery this week when they make the short trip south to Turin, where they will face Italian giants Juventus in the first leg of their knockout clash in the UEFA Champions League.

Jurgen Klopp's side certainly have a bit of buzz around them of late, having won three games in a row now in the German Bundesliga and managed to climb to 12th spot in the table.

While they're still not challenging the big boys at the top of the table, this represents a welcome change from the doldrums of relegation battles.

When the former German champions take to the field on Tuesday night they'll have a certain wind in their sails and an incentive to really match their Italian opponents on the night. Dortmund have built up and incredible amount of momentum over the past month, and it's now time to see if they have enough to knock out Juventus.

The first thing we should consider is that in a rather odd and somewhat peculiar fashion, Dortmund's Champions League form this season has remained completely unaffected by their complete breakdown in the German domestic game.

Klopp's side may have spent the past six months nosediving towards the bottom of the Bundesliga, but at the very same time, we've seen then vanquish Anderlecht, Galatasaray and, most impressively, Premier League side Arsenal when it has really mattered.

Although Dortmund will undoubtedly take courage and an unquestionable amount of confidence from their recent league form, their Champions League form has been almost impeccable of late and should really suggest the German side are at the very least Juventus' equal.

Where Dortmund will mostly likely hope to hurt Juventus will be in attack, where the German side are undoubtedly more talented and have reclaimed their incentive for scoring goals of late.

Klopp has recently reverted back to his winning formula of sticking Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang up front while his attacking three of Marco Reus, Shinji Kagawa and new signing Kevin Kampl take to either playing off him or weaving through balls for the lightning-quick forward to run on to.

The recent news of Reus signing a contract extension has truly galvanised the side and the forward's form, while Kagawa has finally returned to this squad with a turn in form since the new year.

Add to that Aubameyang's incredible goalscoring tally of late—four goals and an assist in the last three games alone, according to WhoScored.com—and you have a team that have come 180 degrees since their dreadful start to the season and are now scoring for fun. 

Much of this has been down to the reintroduction of Ilkay Gundogan and Nuri Sahin to the centre of midfield—the real nucleus of Klopp's attacking intent.

Both midfielders have suffered with niggling injuries and poor form this season, but they now finally look fit and exceptionally influential in how Dortmund play football and attack other sides.

Fortunately for Dortmund, this may be the best time to ask questions of the Old Lady's defence as Massimiliano Allegri's side have looked far from composed in front of their own goal so far this year.

In fact, of the 13 goals the Italian champions have conceded in this entire Serie A campaign, four have come in their last three games, with a somewhat disheartening 0-0 draw with Udinese coming before that.

In European competition this season, we've also seen the Italian giants stumble against decent opposition and once again concede more goals than expected back home. Olympiakos managed to put four past them in two games, while Atletico Madrid also broke through to win 1-0 in their first group-stage meeting.

Quite simply, Juventus don't look like a team who can rely on keeping a clean sheet in the Champions League right now, and it'll be up to Dortmund to put them to the task.

Follow Stefan on Twitter @Sbienkowski.