Wednesday evening sees Borussia Dortmund welcome Russian champions Zenit St. Petersburg to Signal Iduna Park in UEFA Champion League Group F. The game kicks off at 21:00 CET. Here are the match facts.

The scenario

The two losers from the opening round go head to head. While Borussia Dortmund deservedly lost 3-1 away at Lazio despite having more shots and Erling Haaland scoring his 11th goal in nine Champions League matches (for Salzburg and Dortmund), Zenit suffered a bitter defeat. The Russians looked to be on course to win after equalising at 1-1 – former Liverpool man Dejan Lovren's powerful 74th-minute strike went in thanks to a helping hand from the opposition goalkeeper – but Brugge struck on the counter in the third minute of stoppage time to claim a 2-1 victory.

Previous meetings

Borussia Dortmund are facing only their fourth different Russian opponent in European competition. But it is their second meeting with Zenit St. Petersburg, whom they eliminated from the 2013/14 UEFA Champions League in the last 16 courtesy of a 4-2 win away and a 2-1 defeat at home. They have a positive record against Lok Moscow (2-1 and 3-0 in 2002/03) and Sparta Wladikawkas (1-0 and 0-0 in 1993/94) too, while they lost 1-0 away and won 2-1 at home against FC Krasnodar in the 2015/16 UEFA Europa League group stages.

Borussia Dortmund facts

  • Borussia Dortmund have won each of their last three home games in the UEFA Champions League (2-1 vs. PSG, 2-1 vs. Slavia Prague, 3-2 vs. Inter Milan) and lost only one of their last eight (W5 D2 L1).
  • Axel Witsel played for Zenit between 2012 and 2017. During that period, he scored 22 goals in 180 games. He won the Russian title in 2014/15 and lifted the cup the following season.

Zenit St. Petersburg facts

  • Including Soviet titles, Zenit won the league for the seventh time in their history in 2019/20. It was their second title in a row. The St. Petersburg-based outfit have won the league six times since 2007.
  • Zenit are in the group stages of the UEFA Champions League for the eighth time and reached the knockout stages in 2011/12, 2013/14 and 2015/16. But they have never gone beyond the last 16.
  • They finished bottom of a group with Leipzig, Lyon and Benfica in 2019/20, despite picking up seven points. It was their earliest exit from European competition since 2009/10.
  • The club from St. Petersburg have won only three of their past 12 games at European level (D1 L8).
  • Zenit are currently on a 12-match winless run away from home in European competition (D3 L9). Their last win on the road came on Matchday 6 of the 2017/18 UEFA Europa League as they beat Real Sociedad 3-1.

Television

The match can be watched live on Sky. The BVB Net Radio will also be broadcasting live as per usual.

Referee

The Dutchman Björn Kuipers, 47, will be refereeing a Champions League game involving Borussia Dortmund for the fifth time. He has previously overseen two victories and two defeats: a 4-1 win and a 3-1 loss against Real Madrid, plus a 2-0 triumph at Slavia Prague and a 1-0 defeat to Arsenal.
Compiled Boris Rupert