What is the story about?
The
Champions League draw was held today in Monaco to decide which teams will face off in the league phase of the Champions League. Here are the results of the draw for Borussia Dortmund:
Here’s a brief summary of each opponent:
- Inter Milan won Serie A last season in a landslide. They’ve spent a decent amount of money over the summer and have become more… English, with the additions of Djed Spence, Curtis Jones, and John Stones highlighting their summer. Inter of course have made the UCL final twice in recent years, and so are always a massive threat.
- Arsenal are definitely in the conversation for best club in the world; certainly in the top three. They look well positioned to win the Premier League again and spent heavily over the summer to narrow the gap with PSG. Add in the fact that this is away at the Emirates, and this is definitely Dortmund’s toughest match of the League Phase.
- Real Betis, home of Marc Bartra! Betis have not been in the Champions League since 2006. They finished 5th in La Liga last season and their main addition over the summer was Troy Parrott, so hopefully BVB should have the edge.
- Aston Villa are a bit of a mixed bag. They famously got off to an exceptional start last season while vastly overperforming all their underlying metrics before ultimately finishing fourth. They had a real clearing house over the summer and then got absolutely embarrassed by Brighton in week 1, but generally should not be taken lightly.
- Villarreal are the perpetual plucky overachievers in the Champions League. The Yellow Submarine finished third in La Liga last season and will definitely be a tough opponent.
- Bodø/Glimt away is insane. The town of Bodø is in Norway. It is literally north of the Arctic Circle. It’s further north than Fairbanks, Alaska. Hopefully Dortmund are going up to Bodø closer to the Fall than December, because it gets very cold up there.
- AEK Athens are champions of the Greek Super League. Considering the game will be in Dortmund, this is a match that BVB really should win if they want to make it to the knockouts.
- Finally we have Champions League debutants Sabah FK of Masazir, Azerbaijan, part of the greater Baku metropolitan area. A flight from Dortmund to Baku would be about five hours, so for once jet lag might be a bit of a consideration here, I guess?
The full schedule will be released on Saturday. What do you think? Does Dortmund have a decent chance of making it to the knockouts?
