Borussia Dortmund

Borussia came into the derby against the second-placed team in the table with a very depleted squad: centre-back Tyler Meiser had to move up to the U19s to replace the injured Filippo Mane, while captain Jonas Feddersen tore the outer and syndesmosis ligaments in his ankle in training and will be out for the rest of the year, as will striker Diego Ngambia (groin injury). In addition to the ill Oskar Schwarz, long-term absentees Jonah Markötter and Anas Mahjoubi were also unavailable.

BVB are in a good but complicated position going into the game. AC Milan currently lead Group F with six points and a goal difference of +4, followed by Borussia Dortmund (goal difference: +1) and Paris Saint-Germain (+1), but all three sides have the same points. Newcastle are still waiting for their first points of the campaign. The final standings in the group may ultimately be determined based on head-to-head records. 

Nico Schlotterbeck on whether the group will go right down to the wire:
“I hope not. I hope we can get the job done before then. We now have to deliver two very good performances and approach the challenge with confidence. We showed what we can do in Newcastle. We’re now playing at home in front of our own fans. If we play well, then hopefully we won’t have to face a nervy final matchday.”

On Matchday 4 of the UEFA Champions League, Borussia Dortmund will face Newcastle United, hoping to...

Half of the games of this year’s group stage have been played. With a balanced record of one win, one draw and one defeat, BVB lie second in Group F behind Paris Saint-Germain and ahead of Newcastle United and AC Milan. Thanks to a 1-0 win in the away game in Newcastle just under two weeks ago, BVB have the upper hand when it comes to the head-to-head record against the English side, and are hoping to take the next step toward the last 16 in the home game against the Magpies. “The reverse fixture against Newcastle showed that we can compete at this level with a top performance,” said BVB head coach Edin Terzic.

Outlook: With just one win in their last five games (plus two draws and two defeats), the U23s came into the match having dropped a few places in the standings in recent weeks. The Black & Yellows’ tally of 19 points from 13 games positioned them in mid-table. FC Ingolstadt, who have recent experience of playing in the 3. Liga, trailed BVB by two points. In this fixture last season, Dortmund won 2-1 away from home in the second half-season, though were soundly beaten 4-0 at home earlier in the campaign.

Paralympian Denise Schindler made the draw for the eight Round of 16 fixtures at the German Football Museum on Sunday. 

This milestone “shows Marco Reus’ importance not only this season, but in recent years too,” said coach Edin Terzic on Friday. The fans in the stands feted the attacking player with prolonged applause and chants.

Boris Rupert reporting 
In front of a sold-out crowd of 81,365 at SIGNAL IDUNA PARK, BVB were not at the races at all in the opening stages, as Bayern stormed to a 2-0 lead within eight minutes thanks to goals from Upamecano and Kane. Borussia Dortmund had a few chances to pull one back, but Kane’s second in the 72nd minute sealed all three points for the visitors from Munich. In stoppage time, the Englishman scored a third goal to bring the final score to 4-0.

Gregor Kobel: “I had the sense that Bayern were more aggressive in the tackles and more dangerous on the counter-attack. We should have been better in defence. Bayern were given too much space. They posed more of a threat and they came out more aggressively at the start of the game. We should have kept a more compact shape early on and looked to hit them on the counter. We have to step up to these challenges. We wanted to deliver a better performance at home in this game. The better team won.”