Borussia Dortmund: Highs and lows from the title-winning 2010/11 season
By Adam Bakr
Low: No Europa League run
To go with the early cup exit, Borussia Dortmund also struggled in Europe. While they would comfortably take care of Qarabag to qualify for the group stage, that was as good as it got for them.
Jurgen Klopp’s side were drawn into a group with Paris Saint-Germain, Sevilla and Karpaty Lviv. The group had an exciting start, with Dortmund coming back to beat Lviv 4-3 with late goals Lucas Barrios and Mario Gotze.
From there it went downhill, with Dortmund losing to Sevilla at home before consecutive draws against PSG. A 3-0 win in the reverse fixture against Lviv gave Dortmund a chance to advance on the last day in Seville, but the hope would be lost after a 2-2 draw, when only a win would have sufficed.
Similar to the DFB Pokal, not winning the Europa league was hardly the end of the world for a side that won the league. It was still a lost opportunity for the side to gain some experience in Europe with a deep run, and that could have proved valuable for them as they would have a similar fate in the Champions League the following season.