A great draw for Borussia Dortmund. The German runners-up will be up against Dutch champions and flawless Eredivisie leaders PSV Eindhoven in the UEFA Champions League round of 16. The two teams previously met once in the group phase a good 20 years ago – with BVB coming out on top.

The opponent in the round of Europe’s best 16 teams will be one of the last winners of the old European Cup. Thirty-five years ago, in the summer of 1988, a PSV side featuring the likes of Hans van Breukelen, Ronald Koeman, Sören Lerby and Willy van de Kerkhof beat Benfica in the final to lift the trophy. The 24-time Dutch champions and 11-time cup winners have previously crossed swords with Borussia Dortmund only once. Both teams drew 1-1 in Dortmund in the group phase of the 2002/2003 campaign (BVB scored through Jan Koller); BVB then ran out 3-1 winners in the return fixture thanks to goals from Koller, Tomas Rosicky and Marcio Amoroso.

It feels as though that was one of the last home defeats “Eindhovense Voetbalvereniging Philips’ Sport Vereniging” have suffered. In any case, PSV are unbeaten at the 35,000-capacity Philips Stadium in all competitions this season (11 wins and two draws). After a 2-2 draw away to Rangers in the play-off first leg, the Dutch outfit overran the Scots in the return leg and triumphed 5-1.

The team coached by former BVB boss Peter Bosz have been the standard-setters in the Netherlands for two years and currently top the table with 16 wins from 16 league games and a goal difference of 56-6. The gap to second-placed Feyenoord is 10 points. The engine initially cut out at the beginning of the group stages. Following a 4-0 loss away to Arsenal, a 2-2 draw at home to Sevilla and a 1-1 stalemate away to Lens, the club had only two points on the board after three rounds of matches. The 4-0 loss to Arsenal is their only defeat in all competitions to date; the three draws in the group stage – the home game against Arsenal ended 1-1 – are the only other matches that have not ended in victory so far. The club qualified for the round of 16 as group runners-up.

The Eindhoven outfit last reached this stage in 2015/16 (two 0-0 draws with Atlético Madrid were followed by an 8-7 loss on penalties) and last got to the quarter-finals in 2006. Borussia Dortmund’s record against clubs from the Netherlands stands at three wins, three draws and five defeats; the last two clashes came against Ajax in 2021 (3-1 and 4-0 losses) and 2012 (4-1 and 1-0 wins).
Boris Rupert

Ticket info

The first leg will be away on 13/14 or 20/21 February 2024, with the return fixture taking place in Dortmund on 5/6 or 12/13 March. Tickets for the home game will go on pre-sale to club members via the Ticket Shop at 12:00 CET on 5 February 2024.