"That's Champions League": BVB react to the draw | OneFootball

After the Champions League draw, BVB boss Lars Ricken is looking forward to big matchups and speaks of childhood dreams. Coach Niko Kovac emphasizes the appeal of attractive opponents and wants to lay the foundation for advancing early on.

Borussia Dortmund knows its opponents for the new Champions League season – and the draw is a tough one. BVB will face a whole series of European heavyweights. Among others, Manchester City, Inter Milan, Juventus Turin, and Tottenham Hotspur await the Black and Yellows. There will also be matches against FC Villarreal, Athletic Bilbao, Norwegian champions FK Bodö/Glimt, and FC Copenhagen.

The matchups with former BVB players add extra spice. In Manchester, Dortmund will meet striker Erling Haaland, while at FC Copenhagen, Youssoufa Moukoko awaits his former teammates. There will also be a reunion with Henrikh Mkhitaryan, now playing for Inter Milan.

Sporting CEO Lars Ricken was impressed after the draw: “ManCity, Inter, Juventus, Tottenham – that’s the Champions League. You dream of this as a little kid. And of course, we’re aiming to reach the next round. Especially away games will be very challenging for us. Matches against Juventus Turin are always something special for us, especially because of the 1997 final pairing.”

BVB Faces Tough Draw: Ricken and Kovac React

Head coach Niko Kovac is also looking forward to the upcoming challenges with excitement: “Very attractive opponents await us. We’re looking forward to exciting matchups and want to lay the foundation for a good Champions League season in the eight games of the league phase. Our goal is to qualify for the knockout stage.”

The league phase begins on September 16. It will be played in the new format, where all 36 teams compete in a single league. Each club plays eight matches against different opponents. The top eight teams advance directly to the round of 16, while teams ranked 9 to 24 play an intermediate round for advancement.

Dates:

Matchday 1: September 16/17/18

Matchday 2: September 30 / October 1

Matchday 3: October 21/22

Matchday 4: November 4/5

Matchday 5: November 25/26

Matchday 6: December 9/10

Matchday 7: January 20/21

Matchday 8: January 28

Opponents: Inter Milan (H), Manchester City (A), FC Villarreal (H), Juventus Turin (A), FK Bodö/Glimt (H), Tottenham Hotspur (A), Athletic Bilbao (H), FC Copenhagen (A)

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.