German runners-up Borussia Dortmund are in the 2020/21 UEFA Champions League, having reached the competition for the sixth season in a row and the 15th time in total. Here are the match facts ahead of the group opener away to Lazio on Tuesday.

Match facts

  • Borussia will be facing an Italian opponent for the fifth time in the past seven years, having played against Inter Milan (2019), Atalanta (2018), Juventus (2015) and SSC Napoli (2013) during that time.
  • BVB have played more matches against Italian clubs (35) than they have against opponents from any other individual nation. There have been 12 wins, five draws and 18 defeats.
  • The two clubs have only met on one previous occasion: the quarter final of the 1994/95 UEFA Cup. BVB went through courtesy of a 2-0 victory in the return leg, having lost the first leg by a 1-0 scoreline.

Lazio facts

  • It is the sixth time that the Italian club have qualified for the UEFA Champions League. Their last involvement came in 2007/08, when they finished fourth in their group with five points from their six matches. Their previous participations all came between 1999 and 2004.
  • Lazio have won only one of their last 11 UEFA Champions League matches – a 2-1 home victory against Werder Bremen on 6 November 2007.
  • The capital club's most successful campaign was in 1999/2000, when they reached the quarter-finals before being knocked out by Valencia (5-2 loss away, 1-0 win at home).
  • The Biancocelesti participated in the 2019/20 UEFA Europa League group stages. They finished the group in third place behind Celtic and CFR Cluj, having won twice and lost four times.
  • Simone Inzaghi's team, which qualified for Europe's elite club competition by finishing fourth in the 2019/20 Serie A, have lost eight of their last 10 matches in European competitions.
  • Lazio's last home game against a Bundesliga club was a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Eintracht Frankfurt in the 2018/19 UEFA Europa League group stage. Beforehand their home record against German clubs had been five wins and one draw. If you include away matches too, Lazio have lost their last three games against German opposition.
  • Ciro Immobile wore the Black & Yellow of BVB in the 2014/15 season. He managed to score only three goals in 24 Bundesliga matches, though he did notch four goals in six UEFA Champions League appearances.

Borussia facts

  • BVB are in the UEFA Champions League for the 15th time. The Black & Yellows won the competition in 1997 and reached the final in 2013. Borussia have reached the knockout stages in six of their last seven UCL campaigns.
  • BVB finished as group runners-up in 2019/20 – behind Barcelona but ahead of Inter Milan and Slavia Prague. Seven of their 10 points in the group stages came on home turf.
  • BVB have won four of their last seven matches in European competition. All three defeats came away from home.
  • Their away record in Italy stands at four wins, two draws and 10 defeats. The last "victory" came in 2008 when they beat Udinese 2-0 – although they were subsequently eliminated on penalties after losing the first leg 2-0 at home. (br)