The Estadio Santiago Bernabeu is one of the world's most impressive stadia, holding a maximum of 81,044 spectators across five tiers, and it is in this cathedral of football that Borussia Dortmund will take on Real Madrid for top spot in Group F on Wednesday. With 26 hours remaining before kick-off, the team have begun to acquaint themselves with the venue.

Boris Rupert reporting from Madrid

While Roman Weidenfeller, Marcel Schmelzer, Lukasz Piszczek, Erik Durm, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Sokratis have all already played here, it will be a new experience for everyone else – including Marc Bartra, who joined BVB from Barcelona. "It is a great opportunity to continue our growth and development," said Thomas Tuchel the day before the match.

At stake is top spot in Group F and €1.5 million in prize money, although a draw (prize money €500,000) will suffice for BVB. "The important thing about winning the group is the performance you put in to do so. This gives you confidence and shows that you can compete against teams at this level," said the coach of top spot. He added: "I don't believe it has any tactical significance in terms of an advantage in the next round."

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"Our current position gives us the chance to approach the task at hand in calm fashion," said Tuchel, whose charges have already booked their place in the next round. The aforementioned task is another clash with the reigning champions and "one of the biggest names in world football", with whom they drew 2-2 earlier in the campaign. A tactic to combat the Spaniards' broad setup is of the essence. "I don't want to give Real Madrid control of the midfield. That would put us under too much pressure for too long. We need to find a way of attacking quickly, defending aggressively and playing our own game," the coach continued.

Tuchel without Guerreiro, Reus under the weather

Tuchel is without one of his most important players – Portugal's European champion Raphael Guerreiro. "It's extraordinarily difficult to replace him," he said of his "problem solver", who has been suffering from muscular problems since the last international break. "He was supposed to return to team training on Sunday. But we didn't want to risk another setback. He is very, very sad about that – and so are we."

Marco Reus is another possible absentee from the starting XI. However, it is not a question of whether the standout performer from last Saturday's 4-1 victory over Borussia Mönchengladbach is up to two matches in the space of a week (Tuchel: "We absolutely want him to be involved in Cologne"), but whether he is over the effects of the cold he has recently caught.