Borussia Dortmund will most likely no longer win the German football championship. Thanks to the Champions League, it can still be a good season for the black and yellow. Now there’s the second leg at Atalanta Bergamo in Italy (Wednesday, 6:45 p.m.).
Borussia Dortmund performed well in the playoff games for the round of 16 of the Champions League. Coach Niko Kovac’s team won the first leg against the seventh-placed team in Serie A with 2-0. A 2-0 win in the first leg is no guarantee of progress, but it is a good starting point.
Dortmund don’t feel safe yet, and they don’t want to waste any thought on the top Bundesliga duel against Bayern Munich next Saturday (6:30 p.m.).
Borussia Dortmund – full focus on Bergamo
“I want to focus on Bergamo,” emphasized BVB sports director Sebastian Kehl: “This is an incredibly important game for the club. The game will not be easy, it will be very intense, the atmosphere could also be aggressive,” he said before the game in northern Italy.
Putting the focus on Bergamo – that also means putting full focus on the Champions League, because in order to end the season with a really good result, Dortmund have to do something in the premier class.
Friday draw – against FC Bayern?
With Bayern dominating and now eight points behind, the championship seems as good as decided. No win in the direct duel on Saturday would probably help.
Things will get really explosive for Black and Yellow if they reach the round of 16 and FC Bayern are drawn from the draw on Friday. Beat Bayern in the round of 16 and continue to win the Champions League – that would mean the 2025/26 season would still have a special place in the club’s annals.
Scene from the first leg: Julian Ryerson (r.) in a duel with Ederson (l.)
Can and Süle are out for BVB
It is still unclear how coach Niko Kovac will solve the defensive personnel puzzle and who is actually available. Emre Can and Niklas Süle are definitely out. Nico Schlotterbeck, who sat out the first leg against Bergamo as well as the 2-2 draw at RB Leipzig last weekend, could be back.
Kovac and the medical department have to consider whether they should let Schlotterbeck play – after all, there is a Bayern duel at the weekend, in which the national player could perhaps be even more important.
And then we have to see who can still run on Saturday
Atalanta has already beaten Chelsea FC in its own stadium, and in the dress rehearsal they managed a 2-1 win against Italian champions SSC Napoli. However: In the first leg in Dortmund, BVB were clearly superior even without the ailing Schlotterbeck and could have won even more.
But BVB cannot save their energy for the Bundesliga showdown, as there is too much at stake in the premier class. “We now want to get through to the next round in the Champions League, that is our clear goal,” said Kehl: “And then we have to see who can still run on Saturday.”
Our sources:
- News agencies dpa and sid
- sportschau.de
- The West
Broadcast: WDR.de“If they advance in Bergamo – BVB faces a difficult fate in the Champions League”, February 24th, 2026 11.40 a.m
