Borussia Dortmund vs Barcelona facts

Two former UEFA Champions League winners meet on Matchday 6 as Borussia Dortmund take on Barcelona in Germany.

The pair are level on 12 points in the league phase having won four of their first five fixtures and lost the other. Both were 3-0 victors on Matchday 5, Dortmund at GNK Dinamo Zagreb and Barça at home to Brest – the latter making it four successive victories.

Previous meetings

Matches 4
Dortmund wins 0
Barcelona wins 2
Draws 2
Dortmund goals 2
Barcelona 6

1997 UEFA Super Cup
Barcelona 2-0 Dortmund
Dortmund 1-1 Barcelona
First-leg goals from Luis Enrique and Rivaldo, the latter a penalty, earned UEFA Cup Winners' Cup holders Barcelona a 2-0 first-leg victory at the Camp Nou, Giovanni extending that advantage six minutes into the return at the Westfalenstadion; a Jörg Heinrich goal was all Dortmund, then Champions League holders, could muster.

2019/20 Champions League group stage
Dortmund 0-0 Barcelona
Barcelona 3-1 Dortmund
Barcelona only left Dortmund with a point thanks to Marc-André ter Stegen's penalty save from Marco Reus but triumphed at the Camp Nou thanks to goals from Luis Suárez (29), Lionel Messi (33) and Antoine Griezmann (67); Jadon Sancho's 77th-minute consolation was Dortmund's sole reply.

Form guide

Dortmund

Record vs Spanish clubs: W12 D12 L16 F58 A62
Home record vs Spanish clubs: W9 D7 L3

Dortmund went down 5-2 at Real Madrid on Matchday 3 – a game in which they had led 2-0 – in a repeat of last season's final, which ended in a 2-0 defeat at Wembley.

BVB beat Madrid's City rivals Atlético in last season's quarter-finals (1-2 a, 4-2 h).

That second-leg win is one of only four in Dortmund's last 16 matches against Liga clubs (D5 L7).

The German club have lost only three of their 19 home matches against Spanish visitors (W9 D7), and only one of the last 11 (W6 D4).

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. 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.

Dortmund have won ten of their last 19 home European games (D6 L3), the 7-1 Matchday 2 defeat of Celtic their biggest home Champions League victory. They have also beaten Sturm Graz 1-0 in Germany this season.

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.

Barcelona

Record vs German clubs: W35 D14 L20 F123 A88
Away record vs German clubs: W10 D13 L9

Barcelona's 4-1 win at home to Bayern on Matchday 3 ended a seven-game run without a victory against German opponents – six of them defeats.

Barça's last game in Germany was a 2-0 loss at Bayern on Matchday 2 of the 2022/23 Champions League. They have won ten of their 32 away games against German clubs but just two of the last 11 (D5 L4). They did, however, beat Juventus 3-1 in the 2015 Champions League final in Berlin.

This is Barcelona's 29th campaign in the Champions League proper, a competition record they share with Real Madrid. They have featured every season since 2003/04.

The five-time European champions reached the quarter-finals or better every season between 2007/08 and 2019/20, winning the title in 2009, 2011 and 2015, but reached the round of 16 for the first time in three campaigns in 2023/24.

Under Xavi Hernández, Barcelona finished top of their section and then beat Napoli in the round of 16 (1-1 a, 3-1 h). They won 3-2 at Paris in the first leg of the quarter-finals and then went 1-0 up in the return, but ultimately lost 1-4 to bow out.

Barcelona have won only 16 of their last 38 away European matches (D10 L12); they were beaten 2-1 at Monaco on Matchday 1 but triumphed 5-2 at Crvena Zvezda on Matchday 4.

Robert Lewandowski became only the third player to score 100 Champions League goals at home to Brest last time out.

The Catalan club relinquished their Liga title in 2023/24, finishing second ten points behind Real Madrid.

Barcelona replaced Xavi with former Bayern and Germany coach Hansi Flick in the summer.

Links and trivia

Lewandowski was a Dortmund player between 2010 and 2014, scoring 103 goals in 187 games. He won the Bundesliga in 2010/11 and 2011/12, adding the DFB-Pokal in the latter campaign, and scored ten times as BVB reached the 2012/13 Champions League final.

As Bayern coach Flick faced Borussia Dortmund five times between 2019 and 2021, winning all five including a 3-2 victory in the 2020 German Super Cup.

Lewandowski scored six goals against Dortmund in those five games under Flick including a hat-trick in a 4-2 home win on 6 March 2021.

In total, Lewandowski played 26 games for Bayern against Dortmund (W19 D1 L6), scoring 27 goals.

Have also played in Germany:
Marc-André ter Stegen (Borussia Mönchengladbach 2010–14)
Andreas Christensen (Borussia Mönchengladbach 2015–17)
Dani Olmo (Leipzig 2020–24)

Has played in Spain:
Yan Couto (Girona 2020/21 loan, 2022–24 loan)

Have played together:
Emre Can & Wojciech Szczęsny (Juventus 2018–20)
Felix Nmecha & Eric García (Manchester City 2018–21)
Marcel Sabitzer & Dani Olmo (Leipzig 2020–21)
Niklas Süle & Robert Lewandowski (Bayern München 2017–22)
Marcel Sabitzer & Robert Lewandowski (Bayern München 2021/22)
Pascal Gross & Ansu Fati (Brighton 2023/24)
Yan Couto & Pablo Torre (Girona: 2023/24)
Felix Nmecha & Ferran Torres (Manchester City 2020–21)
Niklas Süle & Robert Lewandowski (Bayern München 2017–22)

Lewandowski and Nuri Sahin were Dortmund team-mates in 2010/11 and 2014.

International team-mates:
Waldemar Anton, Emre Can, Nico Schlotterbeck, Niklas Süle, Julian Brandt, Pascal Gross, Felix Nmecha, Karim Adeyemi, Maximilian Beier & Marc-André ter Stegen (Germany)
Donyell Malen & Frenkie de Jong (Netherlands)
Yan Couto & Raphinha (Brazil)

Ferran Torres scored past Gregor Kobel in Spain's 4-1 UEFA Nations League win against Switzerland on 8 September.

Latest news

Dortmund

Jamie Gittens scored for the fourth successive game in all competitions on Saturday, opening the scoring in Dortmund's 1-1 draw at Borussia Mönchengladbach.

On 30 November a late Bayern München equaliser meant Dortmund had to settle for a 1-1 home draw, Gittens having given them the lead.

That ended BVB's run of 11 successive home victories across all competitions.

For the first time in 19 years, BVB have not won any of their first six away league matches (D2 L4).

Serhou Guirassy has 16 goals in 20 games for club and country this season.

Waldemar Anton was substituted early in the match against Bayern due to a muscle injury and sat out Saturday's draw.

Julian Brandt has missed the last two games, also with a muscle injury.

Karim Adeyemi, who has been out since Matchday 2 with a thigh injury, is back in training.

Barcelona

Barcelona conceded a 94th-minute equaliser to draw 2-2 at Betis on Saturday, a game they led twice.

Robert Lewandowski, who opened the scoring, has 23 goals for Barcelona this season, including 16 in La Liga.

On 3 December Barcelona ended a run of three La Liga games without a win with a 5-1 victory at Mallorca.

Raphinha's double, added to his strike in a 1-2 home defeat against Las Palmas on 30 November, means he now has 11 Liga goals this season, five more than his total for the whole of 2023/24.

Ferran Torres, who suffered a muscle injury against Alavés on 6 October, returned against Las Palmas and scored against Mallorca and Betis.

Frenkie de Jong was also on target at Mallorca, his first goal since 24 February.

On 13 November Ansu Fati tore his right hamstring in training.

Goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen tore the patellar tendon in his right knee in a 5-1 win at Villarreal on 22 September and is likely to be out for several months.

Andreas Christensen has not appeared since 17 August due to an Achilles injury.

Marc Bernal is not expected to play this season after suffering a serious knee injury against Rayo Vallecano on 27 August.

Ronald Araújo has not played since 6 July due to a muscular injury.