Borussia Dortmund sporting director Nils-Ole Book is looking forward to 'interesting' Champions League games.
The BVB came to know their opponents for the League Phase of the competition after the draw was held in Monaco on Thursday.
Niko Kovac's side face Inter Milan (H), Arsenal (A), Aston Villa (A), Villarreal (H), Real Betis (H), Bodo/Glimt (A), AEK Athens (H) and Sabah FK (A).
Dortmund are favorites to reached the Round of 16 following what seems like a pretty straight-forward draw for the first round.
Book though, doesn't want to get ahead of his skies and anticipates 'athletic' clashes with the teams.
"We’re looking forward to eight very interesting and athletically challenging matches. "
Serie A champions Inter Milan, who beat the BVB 2-0 in Dortmund last year, and Premier League holders Arsenal present the only real challenge on paper for them right now.
But Book remains adament that Die Borussen will make a serious point against the two league champions.
"With Arsenal and Inter Milan, we’ll be facing the English and Italian champions. We’ll show that we don’t have to shy away from even the best teams in Europe."
Interestingly, Dortmund and Arsenal had met for a preseason clash in the Emirates Cup earlier this month where the former clinched an unlikely 3-2 win at the Emirates.
However, the Champions League is a different ball game, and the Gunners reached the finals of the competition last season while the BVB went out in the knockout stage playoffs.
The first round of games will be held from 8 to 10 September and will conclude on 27 January 2027 whereas Dortmund's exact run of fixtures against their opponents will be revealed later today.
Dortmund among the European dark horses
After having significantly strengthened their squad with a spate of new signings that cost them over 100 million euros, Borussia Dortmund are looking to make a deep run in the Champions League.
The 2024 finalists were beaten in the knockout playoffs by Atalanta last season after throwing away a 2-0 first-leg advantage to lose 4-1 in Bergamo in a monumental collapse.
Dortmund winning just three out of their eight games in the first round made them put up with the daunting, two-legged playoffs.
But this season, it could be different. The BVB now have a squad that feels complete; that's optimized in every department and as we saw in the loss to Bayern, can challenge the big guns too.
Anything less than a direct qualification to Round of 16 would be a disappointment.
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