Borussia Dortmund have been handed an ambitious group full of attractive destinations and illustrious opponents in the draw for the group stages of the UEFA Champions League. BVB will be facing Real Madrid for the fourth time in four years, as well as Sporting Lisbon and Legia Warsaw.

"It's a very exciting group! For me, the highlights are obviously ‒ once again ‒ a double-header with Real Madrid. And in Sporting Lisbon, we have a new and attractive footballing destination to visit on our European travels," said Hans-Joachim Watzke of the draw.

Europe's top club

Real Madrid are simply the club in Europe, having won the European Cup or the UEFA Champions League on 11 occasions (currently the reigning champions), lifted the UEFA Cup twice, claimed four victories in the Intercontinental Cup or the Club World Cup, won La Liga 32 times and lifted the Copa del Rey 19 times. And they are the club that BVB have faced the most in Europe, with the pair set for their 11th and 12th duels. The teams have an even record so far, with four wins, two draws and four defeats apiece. The absolute highlight was BVB's 4-1 victory in the 2013 Champions League semi-final.

"Madrid is a great draw to get, even if we have already played them a lot. But that means we know them too," said Marcel Schmelzer, who is also likely to have good memories of playing Los Blancos, having scored his one and only goal at European level against them.

Lasting memories of Benfica clash

BVB will be facing Sporting Lisbon for the first time in 60 years of European football and will head to Portugal full of optimism. They beat FC Porto 2-0 and 1-0 to progress to the quarter-finals of last season's UEFA Europa League, recording their first-ever victory on the Iberian peninsula in the process. And one of the most legendary European games in the club's history came against a Portuguese side. On 4 December 1963 a Black and Yellow XI containing Aki Schmid and Lothar Emmerich overcame Portuguese champions Benfica, then regarded as the world's top team, by an emphatic 5-0 scoreline in the Rote Erde Stadium. Altogether, the Black and Yellows have won five and lost three against Portuguese opposition. Sporting are 18-time Portuguese champions and one-time winners of the European Cup Winners' Cup (1964). The match will take place in the Estádio José Alvalade, which has a capacity of 52,327 and was one of the stadiums used in the 2004 European Championships. The club finished last year's domestic campaign in second.

Only one previous clash with a Polish team

Duels with Polish clubs in European competition have been a rarity too. The Black and Yellows faced Widzew Lodz (2-1, 2-2) in the 1996/97 UEFA Champions League group stages before ultimately going on to lift the trophy. In the more recent past there have been two friendlies (2-2 and 1-0) against Legia Warsaw, but never a competitive meeting. With 11 Polish league titles since 1955 and a record 18 triumphs in the Polish domestic cup, Legia Warszawa are among the most successful and well-known clubs in Poland. In the qualifying rounds Poland's reigning champions prevailed over Bosnians Zrinjski Mostar (1-1 and 2-0), then beat Slovakians AC Trencin (1-0 and 0-0), before defeating Irish outfit Dundalk (2-0 and 1-1) in the play-offs. The Wojska Polskiego Stadium has a capacity of 31,103.

"Sporting Lisbon and Legia Warsaw might not be the big names they once were on the international scene, but they are very strong teams," warned BVB Sporting Director Michael Zorc. "The fact that Legia are the first Polish team to reach the group stages for 20 years means something," added Schmelzer. "We've been warned. But obviously we want to make our mark on the group and get through." The fact that Schmelzer & Co. have previously shown that they feel the most comfortable when they are handed a tough draw bodes well...

Boris Rupert

The groups at a glance
Reactions to the draw
The Group F fixture list
Information on advance ticket sales