The draw for the UEFA Champions League round of 16 will take place on Monday. As a group runner-up, BVB will be paired with a group winner. But they are not all potential opponents.

When and where will the draw take place?

The draw for the UEFA Champions League round of 16 will take place at UEFA headquarters in Nyon (Switzerland) on Monday 7 November (12:00 CET). The 16 clubs will be placed into two pots. One pot will contain the eight group winners, the other the eight group runners-up. It is not possible for two clubs who represent the same national association or who played in the same group to be drawn together. That means that Bayern Munich and Manchester City are not possible opponents for BVB.

When will the tie be played?

As per usual, the eight first legs will be spread across four days and will be played on 14/15/21/22 February 2023. The return legs will then take place on 7/8/14/15 March 2023. The group runners-up will play at home in the first leg.

What prize money is up for grabs?

Participating in the round of 16 is rewarded with €9.6 million, while qualifying for the quarter-finals will earn another €10.6 million.

Who are the possible opponents?

Napoli
The runaway league leaders in Italy, who have taken 32 out of a possible 36 points in their Serie A campaign, came top of a group containing Liverpool, Ajax and Rangers with a record of five wins and one defeat – by which point qualification was already assured. The two-time Italian champions (1987 and 1990) are taking part in Europe’s elite club competition for the sixth time in the last 10 years. Both of their previous meetings with BVB came in that time period: the Black & Yellows won 3-1 at home in the 2013/14 season but suffered a 2-1 loss in Naples.

Porto
Portugal’s champions and cup winners started the group stages with two defeats by a combined scoreline of 6-1 – yet they still finished in top spot ahead of Club Brugge, Bayer Leverkusen and Atlético Madrid. With 26 participations in the competition, Porto occupy third place historically behind Real Madrid and Barcelona (27 each). It is the sixth time in the last nine years that the club have reached the knockout stages. The only two previous meetings with Borussia Dortmund came in the 2015/16 campaign, when BVB won 1-0 and 2-0 in the last 32 of the Europa League.

Tottenham Hotspur
The club from North London qualified for this season’s Champions League thanks to a fourth-place finish in the 2021/22 Premier League – their best league placement since 2018/19. That was also the season in which Spurs reached the final of the most important European club competition, though they lost the all-English match-up with Liverpool 2-0 in Madrid. This campaign – their sixth in the competition – ended with a photo finish which saw Spurs top Group D at the last second and end the group phase on 11 points, ahead of Eintracht Frankfurt (10), Sporting (7) and Olympique Marseille (6). There have been three meetings with Borussia Dortmund since 2015/16. The first was in the Europa League last 16, in which BVB claimed a 3-0 victory at home and then became the first and only German club to win at the old White Hart Lane (by a 2-1 scoreline). The two teams met in the Champions League in the 2017/18 group stages and the 2018/19 last 16, with Spurs winning all four clashes (3-1, 2-1, 2-0 and 1-0).

Chelsea
There is the possibility of a premiere. BVB have played 36 matches against English opponents in European competition – but they have never faced the Stamford Bridge club, even though they are taking part in the competition for the 19th time (BVB for the 17th). That puts Chelsea level with Arsenal and behind Manchester United (24) in the English all-time ranking. The Blues have already won the title two times – in 2012 and 2021. They were eliminated in the quarter-finals by Real Madrid last term. This season, Chelsea finished top of Group E above AC Milan, Salzburg and Dinamo Zagreb, with 13 points (four wins, one draw and one defeat).

Real Madrid
Unlike Chelsea, the Royals are familiar foes for BVB. The two clubs have already gone head-to-head in the Champions League on seven occasions – most recently in 2017/18, when Real Madrid were able to win both clashes for the first time. The Spaniards have progressed in two knockout ties, though BVB came out on top en route to the 2013 final at Wembley. Dortmund’s overall record is as follows: three wins, five draws and six defeats. Real Madrid are taking part in the knockout stages for a record 28th time and are also reigning champions. With 14 European Champions Cup/UEFA Champions League titles, two UEFA Cups and 12 other international titles, the Spanish record champions are the most successful club in Europe.

Benfica
A permanent presence in the Champions League (nine participations in the past 10 years) and one of the biggest clubs on the continent, they have won the European Champions Cup twice (1961 and 1962) and are Portugual’s record champions with 37 league titles (most recently in 2019). The sports club with the most members in the world (267,000) went toe-to-toe with Paris St. Germain in the group stages and ultimately came top of the group with 14 points on account of their superior goal difference. The head-to-head record (two 1-1 draws) was even. When the club was at their peak at the beginning of the 1960s, they played against BVB, who – following a 2-1 defeat in the European Champions Cup round of 16 first leg – had one of their finest hours as they won the second leg on 4 December 1963 5-0 at Stadion Rote Erde. They were drawn against each other again in 2016/17 – again in the round of 16 but this time in the Champions League. The first leg was won 1-0 by Benfica, but Borussia comfortably won the return fixture 4-0.
Compiled by Boris Rupert