Three former Champions League winners and a reigning domestic champion are still in the tournament. That is the nature of the opponent on Thursday (kick-off 19:00 CET, tickets available here) in the Signal Iduna Park, when Borussia Dortmund play the first leg of their round-of-16 tie in the UEFA Europa League against FC Salzburg.

The Austrians come to play in Dortmund on the back of an impressive record of success:

  • They finished the group stage as group winners for the fourth time, a record in this competition.
  • They are unbeaten in 17 matches at European level (10 wins, 7 draws).
  • They are unbeaten in their last nine away games (4 wins, 5 draws).

Borussia Dortmund have already ended Atalanta Bergamo's winning run in the round of 32, dishing out the Italians' first defeat in the tournament thus far. BVB will be looking to the following going into the first leg of the tie against FC Salzburg ...

  • Their perfect record against Austrian teams in UEFA competitions: they have won four out of four matches.
  • Their strength at home in Europe: BVB is one of only three clubs that had the first leg of the round of 32 at home and progressed.
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Interesting stats on FC Salzburg

  • The Austrian champions progressed from the round of 32 by defeating Real Sociedad 4-3 on aggregate, the individual results reading 2-2 and 2-1. They have reached the round of 16 for the second time as a result.
  • The club has never made it past the round of 16 in the UEFA Europa League. They have exited the tournament seven times.
  • They have never won in Germany, but progressed at the expense of Bundesliga clubs twice on their way to the 1994 UEFA Cup Final in the return leg away from home. In the quarter-final, they lost 0-1 at Eintracht Frankfurt, but went through on penalties, and in the semi-final they progressed after drawing 1-1 in Karlsruhe because of the away-goals rule.
  • Salzburg took on Schalke 04 in the group stage of the UEFA Europa League last season. They lost 1-3 away in Gelsenkirchen. The return leg was won 2-0.
  • Having only conceded one goal in the group stage, Salzburg ended another Europa League record, which was set by Standard Lüttich in the 2011/12 season.
  • The Mozart city men will be playing their 15th European fixture of 2017/18, more than any other team in the UEFA Europa League round of 16. Their season began in the second qualification round of the UEFA Champions League. Defender Andreas Ulmer has played every minute of every game. Striker Munas Dabbur has started each of their 14 matches thus far.