There are 20 players – three goalkeepers and 17 outfield players, including captain Marcel Schmelzer – on board the Borussia Dortmund plane heading to Reggio nell'Emilia, where the Black & Yellows will face Atalanta in their UEFA Europa League Round of 32 second leg tomorrow evening at 21:05 CET (live on SPORT1 and Sky).

But there are several breaks with tradition for this European away day. The match is usually played in the city where the opponent is based, and this is usually the flight destination too. And for over 20 years, BVB have been playing European games in a shirt specially created for the competition. Not this time, though!

The Stadio Atleti Azzurri d’Italia in Bergamo, which was built in 1927 and has a capacity of 26,000, doesn't hold a UEFA licence. Atalanta therefore play their home games in the MAPEI Stadium in Reggio nell’Emilia, the home of Italian club AC Reggiana, which is approximately 200 kilometres away. It has almost 30,000 places but the capacity is limited to 20,084 spectators.

Hotel availability in Reggio nell’Emilia is rather limited, however. Which is why the BVB delegation will be staying 40 kilometres away in Parma, where the team airbus with the flight number EW1909 is scheduled to land at 13:35 CET.

And there's one further unconventional feature. As the BVB international shirt for the current season is not distinguishable enough from the home team's kit, BVB will take to the field tomorrow evening entirely in yellow – the Bundesliga home shirt with yellow shorts and yellow trim.

Kagawa not on board

Shinji Kagawa, Jadon Sancho, Andrey Yarmolenko, Raphael Guerreiro, Maximilian Philipp, Sebastian Rode and Erik Durm are all still injured and unavailable. Other absentees include the suspended Julian Weigl and Manuel Akanji, who is not eligible for international competition. Captain Marcel Schmelzer is on board, however. (br)