21 Borussia Dortmund players were on board team airbus EW 1909 as the Black and Yellows began their journey from the Ruhr to Lisbon, where they will face Portuguese outfit Benfica in the last 16 of the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday evening.

Among the passengers were full-backs and defensive linchpins Marcel Schmelzer and Lukasz Piszczek, who both missed the trip to Darmstadt through injury, as well as Ousmane Dembelé and Marco Reus, who have recently been suffering with knocks. One notable absentee was Mario Götze, who has only been able to complete parts of one team training session since recovering from a muscular injury. "This trip to Lisbon has just come too soon for him," said Sporting Director Michael Zorc prior to departure. (br)