Match facts: Borussia and their good run on the Rhine | OneFootball

The scenario: 13th against 2nd. FC Köln are only two points above the relegation zone. BVB are 11 points behind the league leaders, but six ahead of third place. They have almost matched last season's points tally (57) with 52 points so far this season. Borussia Dortmund have lost only one of their last seven away games at 1. FC Köln.

Home/away: Köln have picked up 15 of their 24 points so far at their own stadium, where they have a fairly balanced record with four wins and five defeats (three games ended in a draw). BVB have picked up the second-most points away from home in the league (23 points, one point more than Hoffenheim) and have already matched their tally for the entire 2024/25 season with six away wins.

Head-to-head: BVB have lost only one of their last eight matches against Köln (a 3-2 away defeat under Edin Terzic in October 2022), winning the last four encounters while scoring 12 goals and conceding only one. This is the only fixture in which the Black & Yellows have kept a clean sheet 30 times in their history. This fixture has ended 0-0 ten times, with only the Revierderby and Gladbach versus Schalke finishing 0-0 more often. However, the last goalless encounter was almost nine years ago. BVB have scored against Köln in each of the last 13 matches.

Statistics: Köln's good start to the season (14 points from the first nine matches) is long gone. After only ten points from the last 15 games, the Billy Goats are now fighting against relegation. Köln won only two of these 15 games (both at home against Mainz and Wolfsburg). Köln have managed to pick up only one point from their last four matches. Both of BVB's defeats this season were against Bayern Munich and both were narrow (1-2 and 2-3). Borussia Dortmund have not lost to any of the other 16 teams in the Bundesliga in 2025/26. Their last Bundesliga defeat against a team other than Bayern was almost a year ago, losing 2-0 to Leipzig on 15 March 2025.

Reverse fixture: On matchday 8, BVB celebrated a narrow, late but well-deserved 1-0 home win. Köln's strong counterattacks caused the Black & Yellows a lot of problems in the first half. BVB were able to make an impact in attack on only a few occasions. In the second half, Dortmund increased the pressure significantly. Borussia set a league record for the season with 30 shots on goal and 17 corners, but they were repeatedly thwarted by goalkeeper Marvin Schwäbe (ten saves). However, the 17th corner brought relief as it was cleared but only as far as Nico Schlotterbeck, who sent the ball back into the box. Fabio Silva's shot was blocked, but Maxi Beier was in the right place at the right time, as his shot took a slight deflection before ending up in the back of the net (90+6).

Most recent away game: In front of 50,000 fans at the sold-out Rhein-Energie-Stadion on 20 January 2024, Borussia took an early lead after Donyell Malen scored in the 12th minute. At the start of the second half, BVB survived two very dangerous situations but then put the game beyond doubt after around an hour thanks to a penalty by Niclas Füllkrug (58) and a second goal from Malen (61). In stoppage time, Youssoufa Moukoko knocked a cross from Jamie Gittens over the line to make it 4-0 (90+2).

Biggest away win: Borussia Dortmund's biggest away in the Bundesliga is 6–1, and they have done that twice in Cologne (1994 and 2012). On matchday 2 of the 1994–95 season, which ended with the team winning the championship, Ottmar Hitzfeld's side had an almost perfect game. The Black & Yellows were led by the outstanding Matthias Sammer and orchestrated by Andreas Möller. They blitzed the opposition and celebrated goals from Möller (12, 22, 36), Sammer (73), Michael Zorc (80) and Flemming Povlsen (84). Bruno Labbadia had equalised to make it 1-1 (18). On 25 March 2012, on Borussia's way to winning the double, Köln actually took the lead through Milivoje Novakovic (13). The score was 1-1 at half-time after Lukasz Piszczek's equaliser (26). Shinji Kagawa (47) and Robert Lewandowski (52) turned the game around and set the course for victory. Ilkay Gündogan (79), Kagawa again (80) and Ivan Perisic (84) then scored a trio of goals within another five minutes to cement the win. Compiled by Boris Rupert