Pre-Match Report
The facts for the second leg in Lille
The scenario: After the two teams played out a 1-1 draw in the first leg, a winner must be determined in the second. If the score is level after 90 minutes, the tie will go into extra time. If there is still no winner, a penalty shoot-out will be required to decide which team will progress. Goals scored away from home no longer count double in the event of a draw. For Lille, reaching the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League would be an all-time best performance for the club. Since the introduction of the round of 16, BVB have reached the last eight on five of their nine attempts.
Home & away: The French side have won ten of their last 12 home games on the European stage and have not lost a single one. The only defeat in their last 16 home games in Europe (ten wins, five draws) was a 2-1 loss to Chelsea in the last 16 of the UEFA Champions League on 16 March 2022. This season, Lille defeated defending champions Real Madrid (1-0), Sturm Graz (3-2) and Feyenoord (6-1) on home soil. Borussia Dortmund have won three of their five away matches in the Champions League this season: with 3-0 scorelines in Bruges, Zagreb and Lisbon. Last season, the Black & Yellows also won in Newcastle (1-0), Milan (3-1) and Paris (1-0), giving them a positive record in their past 11 away matches in Europe's elite competition (six wins, one draw, four defeats).
History: BVB have advanced in knockout ties with French opponents five times, but have been eliminated twice: by FC Sochaux in 2003 and PSG in 2020. The meetings with Bordeaux (1964 Fairs Cup), AJ Auxerre (1993 UEFA Cup and 1997 UEFA Champions League), Paris Saint-Germain (2024 Champions League semi-final) and previously against OSC Lille (2002 UEFA Cup) all ended in success. In the first leg of the last-16 tie at Lille's Stade Grimonprez-Jooris in 2002, both goals came in the second half: Ewerthon put BVB ahead in the 67th minute, but Salaheddine Bassir equalised just five minutes later. After a 0-0 draw in the second leg in Dortmund, Borussia progressed due to the away goals rule in operation at the time.
Borussia facts: The Black & Yellows have qualified for the knockout stages of Europe's elite club competition for the 13th time. This is the tenth time they have reached the last 16 following the introduction of the round of 16. BVB have subsequently reached the quarter-finals five times and been eliminated four times (most recently against Chelsea in 2023). A 1-1 draw in the first leg at home has never laid the foundations for progression, and they have been eliminated on seven of eight occasions when they have only managed a draw at home, most recently in 2015/16 against Liverpool (1-1 at home, a 4-3 loss away). They have won on three of their 12 trips to French clubs to date (two draws, seven defeats).
Lille facts: The club have reached the last 16 of the UEFA Champions League for only the third time. Reaching the quarter-finals would be a first. The biggest European successes for the five-time French champions (most recently in 2021) and six-time cup winners (most recently in 2011) were winning the Intertoto Cup in 2004 and reaching the quarter-finals of the Conference League last season. Lille have prevailed in all three European ties in which they have drawn away from home in the first leg. However, L'OSC have only ever won one home game against a German team (1-0 against VfB Stuttgart in the first leg of the Intertoto Cup final in 2002, followed by a 2-0 defeat in the second leg) and have failed to score in their three subsequent home games against Bundesliga clubs.
Penalties: Four European ties involving Dortmund have been decided by spot-kicks. BVB prevailed in the first two showdowns: 6-5 away to Auxerre in the semi-finals of the 1992/93 UEFA Cup and 3-1 against Rangers in the third round of the 1999/2000 UEFA Cup. Borussia then lost at home to Brugge in 2003 and away to Udinese in 2008. Lille have lost their only penalty shoot-out on the European stage to date: 4-3 against Aston Villa in the quarter-finals of the 2023/24 Conference League.
Compiled by Boris Rupert