There aren't a lot of Polish football superstars around at the moment, so for Dortmund to have three seems a little greedy. Despite many rumours linking each of them with moves to the top clubs in England and Spain, the German Bundesliga champions managed to keep all three of them on their books this summer, and they have each been in impressive form at the start of the season.
Lewandowski, last year’s Bundelsliga player of the season has picked up three goals and three assists in all competitions, including the sole goal in their vital win over Ajax in the Champions League. Błaszczykowski has three goals and two assists so far from the wing, and Piszczek has one goal and five assists from right back. Their influence cannot be overstated, and the dynamic right flank Błaszczykowski and Piszczek have created is a threat Manchester City will need to be well aware of.
Like City, Dortmund were disappointing in last year's Champions League, crashing out bottom of their group behind Arsenal, Marseille and Olympiakos. They went on the defend their Bundesliga title, and managed to keep most of their stars over the summer, Shinji Kagawa moving to Manchester United as the exception.
To replace him they brought in Marco Reus, and he has been excellent so far. Lewandowski was extensively linked with the Premier League, with Manchester United, Chelsea, Spurs and Arsenal all apparently interest in the striker, who was reportedly valued at 30 million euros.
Błaszczykowski was also linked with a move to England, with Liverpool leading the chase until he signed a new contract, and Piszczek has been a long-term interest of Real Madrid. Keeping all three of them was, therefore, a real coup for the German team.
Dortmund have stuttered in their last two Bundesliga matches, losing at Hamburg before squandering a 2-0 lead to draw 3-3 at Eintracht Frankfurt, who have started the season impressively.
They will look to get back on track against Borussia Monchengladbach before visiting Manchester next Wednesday. City will need to regains some of the defensive fortitude they showed last season if they are going to keep Lewandowksi and co at bay.
The game has become an early crunch tie for the English team, as in the dying minutes of the first round of matches they were turned over by Madrid as Dortmund got the winner against Ajax. Should they fail to win at home on Wednesday, Mancini's awful Champions League record could be set to continue.
image: © wuestenigel
Nick Harris
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I'm Nick Harris, Spurs fan and sports writer. Alongside HITC, I'm the founder, editor, writer, and fan of footballspirals.com and can be found on Twitter - @nicksharris. When I'm not watching sport I'm usually drinking coffee and checking updates on my phone in an antisocial manner.
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