He is Borussia Dortmund’s international ambassador and also the ambassador for the final in Berlin: Karl-Heinz Riedle pulled Juventus out of the pot as BVB’s opponents in the last 16 of the UEFA Champions League. It’s a repeat of the 1997 final in which Riedle scored two goals for the Black and Yellows.

So the reigning Serie A champions and current league leaders will be Borussia Dortmund’s opponents in the last 16. “I must admit that I wasn’t as nervous as at earlier draws as our current situation in the league is more important,” said BVB sporting director Michael Zorc who labelled the draw as tough but winnable: “At this stage of the Champions League, there are no easy draws.”

Seven close meetings in the 1990s

With 30 (official) Scudetti to their name, Juve are record champions of Italy. In this year’s Champions League’s group stage, the reigning Serie A champions were involved in a tight race with Olympiakos before they qualified with 10 points (three wins, one draw, two losses) for the second round. Between 1993 and 1997, Borussia Dortmund and Juventus met seven times in Europe, including two finals and one semi-final. In 1993, BVB lost 3-1 and 3-0 in the two UEFA Cup finals, but they took revenge four years later in what is the most important game in club football to win 3-1 in the 1997 Champions League final.

In the 1994-95 UEFA Cup semi-finals, Juve beat Borussia 4-3 on aggregate (2-2, 2-1) to reach the final, also because BVB found themselves on the wrong end of some refereeing decisions. In the 1995/1996 Champions League, the Italians won 3-1 in Dortmund, but the Black and Yellows returned the favour with a 2-1 win at the “Delli Alpi” which was torn down in 2009. Since 2011, Juventus are playing their home games at the 41,000 capacity “Juventus Stadium”. Borussia Dortmund have played 29 times against teams from Italy in Europe so far, winning 10, drawing four and losing 15.