Kovac warns against the “Yellow Submarine” | OneFootball

The scenario

Borussia Dortmund has gotten off to an excellent start. In the Bundesliga, BVB has celebrated two wins in two games, and in the DFB Cup, the Black and Yellows won 5-0 against fifth-division side HEBC, as expected. Following last Saturday’s spectacular comeback at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim, the Black and Yellows now consider themselves ready for the season’s first UEFA Champions League match, for which a limited number of tickets are still available in the online ticket shop.

Villarreal, on the other hand, is still searching for the form it displayed last season, when the club from eastern Spain finished a strong third in La Liga behind FC Barcelona and Real Madrid, thereby qualifying for the Champions League once again ahead of Atlético Madrid and Real Betis. Last Saturday, the “Yellow Submarine” suffered a 2–3 home loss to newly promoted Deportivo A Coruña.

Squad

During the 3-2 away win in Sinsheim, center back Filippo Mane was injured in the first half and had to be substituted after just 32 minutes. Regarding his condition, head coach Niko Kovac said: “We’re assuming nothing else will happen before the international break. He’ll certainly return after that.”

In addition to the young Italian, the injured Giannis Konstantelias, Emre Can, and Nico Schlotterbeck—who is still serving a red-card suspension anyway—remain sidelined. Furthermore, Ramy Bensebaini is still serving his yellow-card suspension from last season and will also not be in the squad.

Although Daniel Svensson and Konstantinos Karetsas sat out Monday’s final training session with the team, Kovac stated that they are “perfectly healthy” and were therefore absent only for the purpose of managing their workload.

Opponent

After four matchdays, Villarreal CF is still winless in the Spanish league. Their 2-2 draws against Racing Santander and Atlético Madrid were followed by 0-1 and 2-3 losses to Alavés and A Coruña, respectively, which have sent last season’s third-place finisher tumbling down to 16th place. Only three teams in Spain’s top league have conceded more goals than Villarreal so far this season.

Nevertheless, BVB coach Kovac has the utmost respect for his team’s opening opponent in the Champions League: “They finished third last year and are playing in the Champions League for the second year in a row. Normally, the top three spots in Spain are locked up. If you break into that group (alongside FC Barcelona, Real Madrid, and Atlético Madrid—Ed.), that really says something!” said the 54-year-old about this season’s first Champions League opponent.

He went on to describe Villarreal as a “strong team” and added: “They have a new coach now, but they continue to play the Spanish style with a lot of possession. They’re technically very sound and very precise in their execution. When they have the ball, this team makes very few mistakes. We’ll have to make sure we reduce their time in possession. When we have the ball, they can’t play their game and have to defend more, which will hopefully work in our favor. It’s going to be a very difficult game.”

Villarreal FC is determined to improve its performance in the Champions League compared to last year and is aiming to reach the playoffs. In the 2025–26 season, the “Yellow Submarine” suffered six additional losses in European competition—in addition to the 0–4 defeat at Borussia Dortmund—and was eliminated in 35th place, second-to-last in the group stage.

Good Memories

In BVB’s first matchup against Villarreal on November 25, 2025, the Black and Yellows celebrated a 4-0 victory that was never in doubt, with the Spanish side severely weakening themselves as early as the 50th minute when Juan Foyth was shown a red card. At that point, the score had been just 0-1 in favor of the visitors. Serhou Guirassy, Karim Adeyemi, and Daniel Svensson then sealed the decisive home victory with their goals.

Furthermore, Villarreal CF’s record against German teams in European competition is quite respectable. Prior to last year’s 0–4 defeat in Dortmund, the club from the province of Castellón had played 15 competitive matches against Bundesliga teams, recording five wins, five draws, and five losses.Mats-Yannick Roth