Borussia Dortmund on course to reach UEFA Champions League round of 16
By Sean Findlay
How things could potentially get tricky for Borussia Dortmund
Losing to the English champions on Tuesday could make things a bit trickier if either Sevilla or Copenhagen wins. A Copenhagen win in Andalusia would make things especially spicy as it would set up a proper final and put pressure on Borussia Dortmund to at least get a draw in the Danish capital when the two sides meet next week.
If Sevilla beat Copenhagen on Tuesday, BVB will either have to get a draw in their final group game or hope that Manchester City won’t lose at the Etihad on matchday six
Borussia Dortmund and Sevilla could both potentially end up with eight points when all is said and done. If this happens, Dortmund already hold the tie-breaker and would send Sevilla into the Europa League.
Borussia Dortmund will also hold the tie-breaker over FC Copenhagen, unless the Danish side manages to defeat them by more than three goals on matchday six.
What the track record of Borussia Dortmund with seven points after four matches?
Since UEFA changed the Champions League format to its current version, Borussia Dortmund have only once had exactly seven points after four matches. In the 2019-20 season, they were locked into a group of death with FC Barcelona, Inter Milan and Slavia Praha.
In the final two matches, BVB lost to Barcelona and beat Slavia Praha 2-1 in Dortmund – thanks to a second half winner by Julian Brandt – which lifted them to second place ahead of Inter.
Borussia Dortmund have had seven or more points after four group matches on seven occasions, and on each of those occasions they have reached the Round of 16, even winning the group an impressive five times. The best seasons being the 2012-13 and 2016-17 seasons, when they finished the group stage with 14 points.
Only once have Borussia Dortmund been able to survive the group stage despite having six or less points after four matches. Underlining how important albeit disappointing the draw against Sevilla two weeks ago was.
This outlier season was 2013-14 – when Napoli became the first team to get knocked out of the Champions League with twelve points. Borussia Dortmund even ended up winning that group!