First Champions League home game – the ticker for the match against Bilbao | OneFootball

On the agenda for today:

+++ 14:00 CEST: press conference +++“We have to be the team to dictate the game so that we can impose our style on the opposition,” explains Niko Kovac at the press conference. The fact that Athletic Bilbao field only players from the Basque Country ensures a high level of “identification not only with the club, but also with the region – that’s an added motivation,” says the coach. Nico Schlotterbeck is feeling prepared, saying of himself that since his return he “can give another 10% to 20%”. The pre-match report.

+++ 11:00 CEST: final training session +++The trees and houses around the training ground in Dortmund Brackel are barely visible in the hazy weather. The BVB pros arrive on the pitch a little late, led by Marcel Sabitzer and Julian Brandt. Like many of their colleagues, both are wrapped up warm: although the thermometer shows 14 degrees Celsius, it feels cold in Dortmund-Brackel. The last Borussia players to jog onto the pitch are Carney Chukwuemeka, Felix Nmecha and Jobe Bellingham. After a short speech by coach Niko Kovac, the warm-up programme for the outfield players begins, while the goalkeepers start with a few drills between the posts. The Champions League balls are also used in the subsequent passing training. Shortly afterwards, technical training begins, with the Borussia players working on the finer points for the match against Bilbao.

Emre Can, Julien Duranville and Aaron Anselmino are absent from the final training session.

More photos in the picture gallery

+++ 10:00 CEST: a recent rundown of the Champions League +++After a 4-4 draw in their opening match away to Juventus, Borussia Dortmund are looking to secure their first Champions League win of the season against Athletic Bilbao on Wednesday. For the record, the last time the Black & Yellows played at SIGNAL IDUNA PARK in the Champions League, they emerged victorious on the night. Although Borussia were ultimately eliminated in the quarter-finals by Barcelona in April, they put up an impressive fight against the five-time winners of the competition and won 3-1 at home in the second leg thanks to a hat-trick from Serhou Guirassy.

+++ 09:09 CEST: good morning from Dortmund +++Borussia Dortmund are preparing today for their first home game of the 25/26 Champions League season, which kicks off at 21:00 CEST on Wednesday evening at SIGNAL IDUNA PARK. The final training session will take place in the morning at the training ground in Dortmund-Brackel. In the afternoon, Niko Kovac and Nico Schlotterbeck will answer journalists' questions at a press conference in the stadium (from 13:55 CEST, live on BVB-TV).