Borussia Dortmund face Inter Milan at the Signal Iduna Park in their last UEFA Champions League match of the league phase on Wednesday.
With only 11 points in seven games, Der BVB are down in 16th place and must go for the win to stand a chance of securing a direct passage into the last-16 round.
Else, a daunting two-legged fixture in the playoffs await. But it's worth noting that the Nerazzurri are in the same boat too, sitting only two places above them after having accrued just a point more.
The sides have clashed only six times in European history, with just two of it coming in this millennium, but there have been quite a few players to have played for both, Dortmund and Inter.
Ivan Perisic
Croatia has produced quite a few talented forwards in recent history, including Ivan Perisic. After bursting onto the scene with Belgian side Club Brugge in 2009, Dortmund came calling for his services two years later.
Unable to replicate his Belgian Pro League exploits in the Bundesliga, coupled with a fall-out with then-manager Jurgen Klopp, Perisic lasted only 18 months at the club and following another two-year stint in Germany with Wolfsburg, he joined Inter in 2015.
His stint with the Nerazzurri was far more successful, making over 250 appearances and lifting three titles, including the Serie A in the 2020-21 season. He also bagged 55 goals in all competitions during his time with the San Siro outfit.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan
Still at Inter Milan, Henrikh Mkhitaryan is all set to face Borussia Dortmund for the first time since leaving the club in 2016. For three years, the Armenian star enjoyed a productive spell at the club, bagging 140 appearances in all competitions and netting 41 goals.
During his time at the Signal Iduna Park, Mkhitaryan won just one title, the 2014 DFL-Supercup (in which he also scored as Dortmund beat Bayern 2-0), before leaving for Premier League spells with Manchester United and Arsenal.
Just three years later, he returned to Serie A with AS Roma on loan, before a permanent transfer. Inter Milan then priced him away in 2022, where he has since pplayed 168 times for the club. At the weekend, he was also on target in their 6-2 drubbing of Pisa.
Achraf Hakimi
Perhaps the most iconic name on this list, Achraf Hakimi carved a niche for himself at Borussia Dortmund after having struggled to break into a star-studded Real Madrid side. His explosive pace on the flanks coupled with an eye for goal made him one of the best right-backs in the game.
In two years at the club, the Moroccan ace amassed 73 appearances and scored 12 goals, including two against Inter Milan when the sides clashed in the group stages of the 2019-20 UEFA Champions League season.
Impressed with his dynamism, leadership and attacking qualities, the Serpents came for him the following summer as Hakimi played a talismanic role in guiding Inter to the Serie A title by ending a nine-year-long Juventus hegemony.
Manuel Akanji
Another former Dortmund player gearing for an emotional return to the Signal Iduna Park this week, Manuel Akanji joined Inter on loan from Manchester City last summer and has played in every Champions League game for the side thus far.
But it was his meteoric rise at Borussia Dortmund that prompted City to make a £15 million outlay in 2022 as Akanji had established himself among the best centre-backs during his five-year spell at Dortmund.
He was a fixture in their starting XI even as the managerial position changed frequently, with the Swiss international making 158 appearances and winning the DFB-Pokal and the DFL-Supercup.