Borussia Dortmund have won four times on the island to date – exactly one quarter of their 16 away games in England. Coincidentally, each of these four teams happen to have two people who will be in Newcastle on Wednesday…

When BVB won 2-1 at West Ham United in the first leg of the semi-final in the European Cup Winners’ Cup on 5 April 1966, Lothar Emmerich scored the goals, Siggi Held worked his magic and Wolfgang Paul kept things tight at the back. Held, now 81 years old, has travelled with the team, along with the “Stopper” Paul, 83.

The second success came 31 years later, in another European semi-final, and once again it was the Black and Yellows who reached the final. Frank Zöllner was part of the team who won 1-0 away to Manchester United on 23 April 1997 thanks a goal from Lars Ricken, and is still a physiotherapist at BVB today. Midfielder Paul Lambert is expected to attend the partner and media dinner at Gaucho Newcastle in the evening.

And then there are Mats Hummels and Marco Reus. The Dortmund duo were there when the Black and Yellows won 2-1 at Arsenal almost exactly ten years ago, on 23 October 2013 (goalscorers: Henrikh Mkhytarian and Robert Lewandowski), and Reus and Hummels were also in the team two and a half years later for the 2-1 away win at Tottenham Hotspur on 17 March 2016. (br)