Borussia Dortmund to face Lille in Last Sixteen of UEFA Champions League | OneFootball

Borussia Dortmund is set to face the French side of Lille in the UEFA Champions League Round of Sixteen.

Niko Kovač’s side defeated Sporting CP in the playoffs with a 3-0 aggregate score, winning the away leg 3-0 while holding Sporting to a 0-0 stalemate in the Westfalenstadion. It wasn’t the prettiest performance from the Black-and-Yellows, but they’re through without conceding a single playoff goal.

Lille, on the other hand, received a bye through the Champions League playoffs, having finished seventh in the league table phase. Some of Lille’s notable UCL wins include a 6-1 drubbing of Feyenoord, in addition to a 3-1 away win against Atlético Madrid and a 1-0 home win against Real Madrid. Interestingly, their only UCL losses came at the hands of Liverpool and Sporting, the latter of which BVB just defeated.

Borussia Dortmund has recorded five wins and three losses in the League phase, followed by a win and a draw to secure advancement. Their most notable win of the bunch was a 7-1 demolition of Celtic, which saw Karim Adeyemi net a first-half hat trick in impressive style. Notable losses include a home game against Barcelona, a 2-5 away loss to Real Madrid after leading by two at halftime, and who can forget the loss to Bologna, Nuri Sahin's final match in charge.

Domestically, Lille is fighting for Champions League qualification next year with no hope of challenging for the League 1 title. Lille sits in fifth place, two points behind third, and eighteen points behind leaders PSG. Dortmund finds itself in an even worse position domestically, sitting in eleventh, eight points off Champions League qualification, twenty-six points behind league leaders Bayern Münich.

Can the Champions League be Borussia Dortmund's saving grace?