What a week for Borussia Dortmund: on Tuesday they face Atlético Madrid in the Champions League, then on Saturday the side will go head to head with Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga. In both of these ties - the 250th European match in club history and the German equivalent of the ''Clásico'' - the Black and Yellows don't just have nothing to lose; they also have a whole lot to win.

A draw in the Estadio Metropolitano would be enough to send the Black and Yellows safely through to the last 16 of the competition after just four out of a total of six group matches. A win would already wrap up first place in Group A, while even a defeat could see BVB through to the knock-out phase should the other tie in the group between AS Monaco and FC Brugge end in a draw.

''We're still not through,'' said Thomas Delaney in the build-up to the tie: ''But after getting started with three wins we clearly want to take this chance to win the group. The 4-0 against Atlético was a big win for us.''

''Atlético will be even more aggressive than in the first match“

After the way the first game went, head coach Lucien Favre and his players will be expecting a particularly motivated opponent. At today's press conference, Favre said the following: ''Of course Atlético aren't used to losing 4-0. It's going to be a really tough match for us. For the past seven, eight years, Atlético have been one of the best teams in Europe. My counterpart is doing a fantastic job and is one of the finest coaches in the world. Atlético are up there at this level. They're a really formidable opponent.''

Roman Bürki is also expecting to face ''an Atlético side that will be that bit more aggressive than in the first match.'' Keeping a clean sheet – Burki and co. are still to concede in Europe's elite competition – will be even harder. Nonetheless, the Swiss goalkeeper explained that the goal is: ''Always keep a clean sheet. We've done really well up till now, both on the defensive as well as the offensive side of things. We want to keep it up tomorrow.''

Mario Götze and Lukasz Piszczek are both with the squad after their absences. ''We've travelled with a squad of 19 outfield players as we have a couple of players we're not sure about,'' stated Favre without indicating who exactly he was referring to.

Boris Rupert