Marseille vs Borussia Dortmund preview - Dortmund hampered for crunch clash

An injury-hit Borussia Dortmund made the trip to Marseille on Tuesday ahead of a game which could make or break their season.

After losing to Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga last weekend, the Westphalians' hopes of regaining the domestic title from Bayern Munich this season appear to have been put to bed, and their Champions League hopes could follow if they do not get the right result against the already-eliminated Marseille.

Dortmund need only to match the result Napoli get in their game against Arsenal, which means Jurgen Klopp's men could still go through with defeat in the south of France.

However, they face a side who have just replaced Elie Baup, and who do not want to suffer the ignominy of becoming the 16th side to go through a group stage without earning a single point.

The French club's director of sport Jose Anigo has been placed in temporary charge until a permanent successor can be found, and he is aware of the size of the task he has let himself in for.

"Every game is hard for us right now," he said. "The fixture list is anything but a gift, but right now we've got to look at what we can do and not look at our opponents.

"We want to leave the group with our heads held high. It may not be the easiest of games, but it could be the chance for us to rediscover our will and desire.

"What will be more important to see is the way the players react, more so than the result."

The opposite is the case for Dortmund, who will gladly scrape a win to ensure their place in the competition next spring.

Klopp will send a new-look team into battle following the losses of Sven Bender and Nuri Sahin.

They join Mats Hummels, Neven Subotic, Ilkay Gundogan and Marcel Schmelzer in the treatment room while Manuel Friedrich is ineligible.

"Our options have reduced further," said Klopp, who may have to turn to 19-year-old Koray Gunter and 18-year-old Marian Sarr to fill the gaps at the back.

An alternative could be captain Sebastian Kehl starting at the heart of the defence.

"You get creative in an emergency," said Klopp. "Things are not necessarily going that well for us."