The leaders of the Bundesliga take on the Serie A´s top side. The UEFA Champions League season kicks off with an absolute cracker on Wednesday night (2045 CET) as Borussia Dortmund travel to SSC Napoli. On Tuesday afternoon, last year´s finalists boarded a Turkish Airlines flight bound for Aeroporto di Napoli-Capodichino..

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Robert Lewandowski traf bereits elf Mal für den BVB in der Champions League. [firo]

"This is going to be a tough hill to climb for us, but we are no pushovers, either," said BVB coach Jürgen Klopp in the build-up to the clash with Napoli, a side with a strong home record that will turn Stadio San Paolo into a cauldron on Wednesday night. "Napoli are a real deal," said Michael Zorc, BVB´s sporting director. Last weekend, the Serie A leaders produced a 2-0 win over Atalanta Bergamo through goals from José Callejon and Gonzalo Higuain, with the pair, who had joined from Madrid in the summer, taking their tally to five goals and two assists this season.

"We now have to turn into Champions League mode," said club chairman Hans-Joachim Watzke, urging the team to focus fully on the tough task that awaits them at the foot of Vesuvius. Last season, BVB went the first five Champions League games on the road undefeated before Real Madrid ended that streak in the semi-final.

In Sebastian Kehl and Ilkay Gündogan, BVB will be missing two of their holding midfielders, and they will also still be without right-back Lukasz Piszczek. However, top striker Robert Lewandowski is full of confidence ahead of BVB´s busy schedule over the coming weeks, saying: "This is where the season really starts. Playing just one game per week is not enough for me."
Boris Rupert