The lowdown on Borussia Dortmund
This Wednesday at 9pm CET, FC Barcelona will be playing the sixth of their eight Champions League group stage matches, and it's a challenging trip to one of the most atmospheric stadiums in Europe. It's time for a closer look at Die Schwarzgelben (The Black and Yellow).
Where are they from?
Dortmund is in the German region of Westphalia and has a population of just over 600,000, but it's just one part of the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan area that in total is home to over 5 million people. As a hub for coal and steel production, it was almost entirely destroyed by air raids in World War II, but has since revived as a hub for technology, education, and the arts, and surprises visitors with its vast areas of natural parks and woodland.
The club
The name 'Borussia' comes from the Latin word for the historical kingdom of Prussia, although the players that formed the football club in 1909 were actually doing so in honour of a local brewery of that name. In the early years, their neighbours and rivals Schalke 04 were the most successful club in the region, but the balance has shifted, with Dortmund generally established as the second biggest club in Germany after Bayern Munich, and its membership of over 200,000 is even bigger than FC Barcelona's.
Dortmund have been German champions eight times (most recently in 2011–12), placing them third in the all-time table. But their proudest hour came in 1997 when they won their only Champions League, defeating the star-studded Juventus in the final. Jürgen Klopp led them back to the final in 2013, but that time they lost to their bitter rivals Bayern Munich.
The stadium
Westfalenstadion (known for sponsorship reasons as Signal Iduna Park and as BVB Stadion Dortmund for UEFA purposes) holds an immense 81,365 spectators is one of the most iconic football venues in the world. It opened in 1974 as part Germany's staging of the World Cup. It's 25,000 capacity southern terrace, known as the Yellow Wall, is famed worldwide for the incredibly intimidating atmosphere that it generates.
Head to head
1957 Friendly in Barcelona
Barça 4-1 Dortmund
1964 Friendly in Barcelona
Barça 4-2 Dortmund
1983 Joan Gamper Trophy in Barcelona
Barça 2-1 Dortmund
1994 Friendly in Malaga
Barça 3-0 Dortmund
1997 European Super Cup
Barça 2-0 Dortmund
Dortmund 1-1 Barça
2019 Champions League Group Stage
Dortmund 0-0 Barça
Barça 3-1 Dortmund
Until they met in the 1997 European Super Cup, Barça and Dortmund had only ever met before in pre-season friendlies. Goals from Luis Enrique and Rivaldo secured a 2-0 win at Camp Nou, and an early goal for Giovanni in the second leg at the Westfalenstadion left the Germans with practically no hope of getting back into the tie.
The only previous Champions League meeting between the sides was in the 2019-20 group stage (Inter Milan and Slavia Prague completed Group F). After a 0-0 draw on the opening day in Germany, with Ter Stegen saving Marco Reus' penalty, Barça's 3-1 victory (with goals from Leo Messi, Luis Suárez and Antoine Griezmann) secured qualification for the next round. Dortmund would eventually join them.
It means that in eight different games since they first met in a 1957 friendly, Barça have yet to lose.
Form guide
There is a very definite pattern to Dortmund's Bundesliga campaign so far. Until they were held 1-1 by leaders Bayern Munich last week, they had won every single game at home. But they have yet to win a single match on the road. That Yellow Wall makes a difference! That poor away form means that for the time being they sit in a disappointing sixth in the table. They are also already out of the cup after losing 1-0 to VfL Wolfsburg.
Champions League results
Club Brugge 0–3 Dortmund
Dortmund 7–1 Celtic
Real Madrid 5–2 Dortmund
Dortmund 1–0 Sturm Graz
Dinamo Zagreb 0–3 Dortmund
But things have been going fabulously for them in Europe, where they currently sit joint fourth alongside Barça on 12 points. The highlight of their campaign has been the 7-1 trouncing of Celtic. The low point was their trip to the Santiago Bernabeu, where they were leading 2-0 with half an hour to go and somehow ended up losing 5-2!
The players
Most international caps
Marcel Sabitzer (Austria 87), Ramy Bensebaini (Algeria 68), Niklas Süle (Germany 49), Julian Brandt (Germany 48), Emre Can (Germany 48), Donyell Malen (Netherlands 41), Giovanni Reyna (USA 31), Julian Ryerson (Norway 30), Serhou Guirassy (Guinea 21), Nico Schlotterbeck (Germany 18), Pascal Groß (Germany 12), Gregor Kobel (Switzerland 10)
The boss
Nuri Şahin was born in Germany but of Turkish descent and that is the team he chose to represent at international level, becoming their youngest ever player and scorer and going on to earn 52 caps. A midfielder who came out of Borussia Dortmund's own academy, he played over 200 times for the club.
His final playing club was Antalyaspor in Turkey, and on retirement he became their manager. Two years later, in 2013, he returned to Dortmund as assistant coach under Edin Terzić. When Terzić departed last summer, Şahin moved into the hot-seat.