Borussia Dortmund will have to try to reach the round of 16 of the Champions League through the intermediate round. There was a defeat against Inter Milan in the last game of the league phase.
Due to the 2-0 defeat on Wednesday evening (January 28th, 2026) against the leaders of Serie A, for which Federico Dimarco (81st) and Andy Diouf (90th + 4th) scored, the Bundesliga club slipped to 17th place in the final table behind Bayer Leverkusen. “We are disappointed and of course sad”said Dortmund coach Niko Kovac.
In the intermediate round, which will be drawn on Friday and will take place on the 17th/18th. and 24/25. If the game is played in February, BVB will have to play away from home in the second leg. Only two opponents are possible for Dortmund: Bayer Leverkusen or Atalanta Bergamo.
There could be a duel with FC Bayern in the quarterfinals. The other possible opponent is also top-class – Arsenal FC, leaders of the English Premier League.
Borussia have already played against Leverkusen twice this season. In the Bundesliga, the Westphalians won 2-1 on the Rhine and were eliminated from the DFB Cup with a 0-1 defeat in their own stadium.
BVB sports director Kehl: “Honestly, I don’t care”
Dortmund’s sporting director Sebastian Kehl could live with having to face the Werkself again in the European elite league. “Honestly, I don’t care”he said after the defeat against Inter. “Leverkusen is around the corner”he even found something positive in another encounter.
Dortmund’s Guirassy forgives miserably
Serhou Guirassy is currently not in the best condition. As if proof were needed, he missed a chance at the start of the game that could hardly have been better. Inter moved out from a corner kick, but not quickly enough to catch Guirassy offside on a pass from Julian Ryerson. The center forward was therefore alone in front of goalkeeper Yann Sommer, but he quickly finished, and then with his left foot. The ball rolled into the arms of the Milan goalkeeper.
A second Yann had the chance to put Inter in the lead. Yann Bisseck, central defender and German international, failed from a half-left position.
Anton is out for a short time before the Inter game
In addition to Daniel Svensson, who was suspended after his red card in the 2-0 loss at Tottenham Hotspur, another defensive player, Waldemar Anton, was missing for a short time. The central defender had to miss the game due to illness. He was replaced by Filippo Mane, who was last in the starting line-up at the start of the Bundesliga against FC St. Pauli – and was shown a red card.
At Inter, Alessandro Bastoni and Lautaro Martinez, among others, were on the bench and had two yellow cards. The Serie A leaders did well with a few counterattacks, but BVB dominated the game with more possession. However, there were no further good opportunities before the break.
Bensebaini is celebrated for tackles
It took a while for things to get interesting in the second half. Inter then had a chance through Francesco Esposito, but Ramy Bensebaini slipped the ball off his foot and was celebrated by the crowd (63′).
Things were poor on offense for a long time. Substitute Karim Adeyemi only had an opportunity in the 70th minute, but even the extremely fast national player came a step too late towards Sommer.
Inter then took advantage of a free kick from around 18 meters to take the lead. Dimarco circled the ball over the wall into the right corner with his left foot. Andy Diouf followed up with a counterattack in stoppage time. (90th + 4th).
Inter is in tenth place in the final table and will face either Benfica or the Norwegian surprise team FK Bodø/Glimt in the second round.
BVB ultra group arrives late, fan support charges the police
BVB was supported from the start by the south stand, but one of the two large Ultra groups initially stayed away from the stadium. According to information from the sports show, the reason was that the “desperados” were detained by the police.
When asked, the police said that Inter fans had been robbed from a group of Dortmund supporters. The alleged thieves were targeting fan paraphernalia.
Since the police measures, especially establishing personal details, would have taken longer, the Desperados would not have been in the stadium until after kick-off.
A few hours earlier, “Fanhilfe Dortmund” had expressed harsh criticism of the police in an article on its homepage. “Under the pretext of wanting to establish the identity of alleged suspects, the active BVB fan scene has been accompanied by units from the Evidence Preservation and Arrest Unit (BFE) since the home game against Borussia Mönchengladbach in addition to the already massive police presence on arrival and departure,” the statement says. During the previous three missions of this specialized unit, there were repeated attacks on BVB fans.
In the Bundesliga now against Heidenheim
Borussia Dortmund continues in the Bundesliga on Sunday (February 1, 2026) at 5:30 p.m. against 1. FC Heidenheim.
