Borussia Dortmund vs Sturm Graz facts

Borussia Dortmund will be out to get back to winning ways on Matchday 4 of the UEFA Champions League as they take on a Sturm Graz side still seeking their first point.

The German side won their first two games, 3-0 at Club Brugge and 7-1 at home to Celtic, and looked set to make it three out of three as they led 2-0 at Real Madrid in a repeat of last season's final only for the holders hit back to inflict a 5-2 defeat.

Sturm are one of six sides to have suffered three defeats so far, losing 2-1 at European debutants Brest before home reverses against Club Brugge (0-1) and Sporting CP (0-2).

This is the clubs' first meeting, and Sturm's first tie against a German club in 19 years.

Form guide

Dortmund 

Record vs Austrian clubs: W4 D1 L1 F10 A3
Home record vs Austrian clubs: W2 D0 L1

Dortmund's last games against Austrian opponents came in the 2017/18 UEFA Europa League round of 16, a 1-2 aggregate defeat by Salzburg (1-2 h, 0-0 a).

BVB had won their previous four matches against teams from Austria, beating Austria Wien in the 2003/04 UEFA Cup first round (2-1 a, 1-0 h) and Wolfsberg in the 2015/16 Europa League third qualifying round (1-0 a, 5-0 h).

Dortmund are in the Champions League proper for the 19th time overall and the ninth successive season. All but two of their last 11 campaigns have extended into the knockout rounds.

In 2023/24, Edin Terzić's team finished first in Group F ahead of Paris Saint-Germain, AC Milan and Newcastle before beating PSV Eindhoven (3-1 aggregate) and Atlético de Madrid (5-4 agg). BVB then won 1-0 both home and away against Paris to reach a third European Cup final but Madrid proved too strong at Wembley, running out 2-0 winners.

Dortmund have won nine of their last 18 home European games (D6 L3), the Matchday 2 defeat of Celtic their biggest home Champions League victory.

European champions in 1997 and also runners-up in 2013, Dortmund have been eliminated in the last 16 in three of their last six Champions League campaigns.

BVB finished fifth in the Bundesliga in 2023/24, their lowest league placing since finishing seventh in 2014/15.

Nuri Şahin replaced Terzić as coach in the summer.

Sturm

Record vs German clubs: W1 D1 L6 F7 A16
Away record vs German clubs: W0 D1 L3

Sturm have not played a Bundesliga team since losing 5-3 on aggregate against Wolfsburg in the 2005 UEFA Intertoto Cup second round (2-2 a, 1-3 h).

The away leg of that tie was the first time Sturm had avoided defeat in Germany, where they conceded seven goals in their first three matches, scoring only once.

A 2-0 home win against Leipzig in the 1983/84 UEFA Cup third round – a tie they won 2-1 on aggregate – remains Sturm's only victory against German opposition.

This is the fourth time Sturm have featured in the Champions League proper – and the first since 2001/02, their third successive appearance.

That most recent campaign is the only one in which the Austrian side survived the initial group stage. First in their section ahead of Galatasaray, Rangers and Monaco – winning three of their six games – Sturm were third behind Valencia and Manchester United in the second group stage, though they did end with six points thanks to two wins against Panathinaikos.

Sturm have lost five times in Champions League qualifying since that last group appearance 23 seasons ago. This is the first time they have ever qualified direct for the group stage.

In 2023/24, Sturm were beaten 7-2 on aggregate by PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League third qualifying round, and then finished third in their UEFA Europa League group behind eventual champions Atalanta and Sporting CP. That sent them into the UEFA Europa Conference League, where they were eventually eliminated by LOSC Lille in the last 16 (0-3 h, 1-1 a).

The Austrian club have won only two of their last 14 away European matches (D3 L9) and five of the last 33, a sequence that stretches back to 2009 and includes 18 defeats.

There was domestic success for Christian Ilzer's side last season, Sturm finishing top of the Austrian Bundesliga to end Salzburg's run of ten titles in a row. It was the club's fourth league triumph and a first since 2010/11; they also claimed the Austrian Cup for the seventh time, winning a second domestic double.

Links and trivia

Have played in Austria:
Marcel Sabitzer (Admira Wacker 2009–13, Rapid Wien 2013/14, Salzburg: 2014/15 loan) Karim Adeyemi (Liefering 2018/19, Salzburg 2019–22)

Have played together:
Karim Adeyemi & Jusuf Gazibegovic (Liefering 2018/19)
Pascal Gross & Kjell Scherpen (Brighton 2021/22)
Marcel Sabitzer & Stefan Hierländer (Leipzig 2015/16)

Latest news

Dortmund

Dortmund's record in this season's Bundesliga is W5 D1 L3. They came from behind to win 2-1 at home to Leipzig on Saturday.

Serhou Guirassy, who scored the winner, has 13 goals in 13 games for club and country this season.

Dortmund lost 2-1 in Augsburg on 26 October, when substitute Almugera Kabar was sent off – becoming just the third BVB player to be dismissed on his Bundesliga debut – while Cole Campbell made his first-team debut.

Three days later BVB were eliminated in the German Cup second round, suffering a 1-0 extra-time defeat at Wolfsburg.

Waldemar Anton (hip) and Julian Ryerson (adductors) all had to be substituted in Augsburg and have not played since.

Gregor Kobel suffered a thigh injury at Wolfsburg and missed the weekend win.

Niklas Süle has been out with an ankle injury since Matchday 3.

Yan Couto (glutes) has missed the last five games.

Karim Adeyemi and Julien Duranville have both been out with thigh problems since Matchday 2.

Giovanni Reyna has been sidelined since suffering a groin injury in training with the United States in early September.

Sturm Graz

On Saturday Sturm conceded a 90th-minute equaliser to draw 1-1 at home to Rapid Wien.

Erencan Yardımcı had opened the scoring in the 82nd minute, the second successive game in which he had found the net.

Otar Kiteishvili has three goals in his last three league games.

Lovro Zvonarek had scored in Sturm's previous two matches, getting the winner in a 2-1 victory at LASK on 27 October.

Zvonarek was also on target in a 2-1 home success at home to Blau-Weiss Linz in the last 16 of the Austrian Cup on 30 October, Yardımcı getting the winner with his first Sturm goal.

Sturm will be at home to Austria Wien in the quarter-finals on 31 January.

Gregory Wüthrich has been out since suffering a hand injury early in the defeat at Brest on Matchday 1.

Jon Gorenc Stanković fractured his forearm on 28 September and has not played since.