UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE - 2017/18 SEASON MATCH PRESS KITS BVB Stadion Dortmund - Dortmund Thursday 15 February 2018 19.00CET (19.00 local time) Borussia Dortmund Round of 32, First leg Atalanta BC Match background 2 Legend 4 1 Borussia Dortmund - Atalanta BC Thursday 15 February 2018 - 19.00CET (19.00 local time) Match press kit BVB Stadion Dortmund, Dortmund Match background Borussia Dortmund, who finished third in their UEFA Champions League section, are seeking their first European victory of the season as they host unbeaten Group E winners Atalanta in the first leg of the UEFA Europa League round of 32. • The two clubs are worlds apart in terms of their European experience, but it is the Italian side, appearing in only their fifth UEFA campaign, who have been the more impressive continental performers in 2017/18. Previous meetings • The two clubs have never met in European competition. • Dortmund have faced Italian opposition on 31 occasions, with their record standing at W10 D4 L17. They have yet to face a Serie A side in the UEFA Europa League, but their most recent UEFA Cup tie against a team from Italy resulted in a penalty shoot-out defeat to Udinese in the 2008/09 first round after both clubs had won 2-0 away. • Dortmund's overall UEFA Cup record against Italian opposition in two-legged knockout ties is W3 L4. The losses include a 6-1 aggregate defeat by Juventus in the 1992/93 final. • The German's club's knockout record against Serie A sides in UEFA competition overall is W3 L8. Their most recent tie was a 5-1 aggregate loss against Juve in the 2014/15 UEFA Champions League round of 16 (1-2 away, 0-3 home). • Atalanta's only previous tie against German opponents came in 1990/91 – their most recent European campaign until this one – when they ousted Köln 2-1 on aggregate in the UEFA Cup third round (1-1 away, 1-0 home). Form guide • Dortmund are without a victory in eight European matches (D2 L6) and have suffered three defeats in their last four at home. • The German club registered just two points in their autumn UEFA Champions League campaign but managed to take third place in Group H on goal difference ahead of Cypriot club APOEL. It was the first time in 13 group campaigns in that competition that they failed to register a win. • The Schwarzgelben reached the quarter-finals in their most recent UEFA Europa League adventure, in 2015/16, having defeated FC Porto 2-0 at home and 1-0 away in the round of 32. Their home record in the UEFA Europa League knockout phase is W2 D1. • One of only four teams who came through this season's UEFA Europa League group stage undefeated (W4 D2), Atalanta recorded their biggest away win in Europe on matchday five when they overcame Everton 5-1 at Goodison Park. • Nevertheless, the Bergamo side have won only two of their 12 away games in European competition (D5 L5). • Dortmund qualified for this season's UEFA Champions League after finishing third in the 2016/17 Bundesliga. They also won the German Cup last term, defeating Eintracht Frankfurt 2-1 in the Berlin final. • Fourth in Serie A last season, Atalanta are competing in Europe for the first time since 1990/91, when they were eliminated by Internazionale in the UEFA Cup quarter-finals. UEFA Europa League squad changes • Dortmund In: Michy Batshuayi, Marco Reus, Jadon Sancho Out: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Eike Bansen, Marc Bartra, Jacob Bruun Larsen, Till Schumacher, Janni-Luca Serra, Neven Subotić • Atalanta In: Musa Barrow, Dejan Kulusevski, Luca Rizzo Out: Jasmin Kurtič, Riccardo Orsolini, Luca Vido Links and trivia • Sokratis Papastathopoulos represented Genoa (2008–10) and Milan (2010/11) in Serie A; at Genoa he was coached by current Atalanta boss Gian Piero Gasperini. • Atalanta defender Robin Gosens is German, but he has never played in the Bundesliga. • Dortmund's Roman Bürki and Atalanta's Remo Freuler are international team-mates for Switzerland. • Mario Götze (Germany) and Shinji Kagawa (Japan) have both scored international goals against Italy. 2 Borussia Dortmund - Atalanta BC Thursday 15 February 2018 - 19.00CET (19.00 local time) Match press kit BVB Stadion Dortmund, Dortmund • New Dortmund coach Peter Stöger was in charge of Köln in this season's UEFA Europa League group stage, leaving before matchday six. • No German or Italian club has ever reached a UEFA Europa League final. • Suspended for next match if booked: Julian Weigl (Dortmund); Andrea Masiello, Josip Iličić (Atalanta). The coaches • Peter Stöger was appointed to replace Peter Bosz as Dortmund coach on 10 December 2017 – a week after he was dismissed by Köln, where he had been in charge for four and a half years. A four-time league champion as a player in his native Austria, with 65 international caps, he moved to Germany after steering Austria Wien to the 2012/13 title. • A one-time Juventus youth player, Atalanta boss Gian Piero Gasperini mostly played in Italy's lower divisions but worked his way up to the top tier as a coach, leading Inter, Genoa and Palermo before taking his current job in 2016. He led the Bergamo outfit to fourth place in Serie A last term, bringing European qualification for the first time in 27 years. 3 Borussia Dortmund - Atalanta BC Thursday 15 February 2018 - 19.00CET (19.00 local time) Match press kit BVB Stadion Dortmund, Dortmund Legend Competitions Club competitions National team competitions UCL: UEFA Champions League EURO: UEFA European Football Championship ECCC: European Champion Clubs' Cup WC: FIFA World Cup UEL: UEFA Europa League CONFCUP: FIFA Confederations Cup UCUP: UEFA Cup FRIE: Friendly internationals UCWC: UEFA Cup Winners' Cup U21FRIE: Under-21 friendly internationals SCUP: UEFA Super Cup U21: UEFA European Under-21 Championship UIC: UEFA Intertoto Cup U17: UEFA Under-17 Championship ICF: Inter-Cities Fairs Cup U16: UEFA European Under-16 Championship U19: UEFA Under-19 Championship U18: UEFA European Under-18 Championship WWC: FIFA Women's World Cup WEURO: UEFA European Women's Championship Competition stages Other abbreviations F: Final GS: Group stage (aet): After extra time pens: Penalties GS1: First group stage GS2: Second group stage No.: Number og: Own goal 3QR: Third qualifying round R1: First round ag: Match decided on away P: Penalty R2: Second round R3: Third round goals agg: Aggregate R4: Fourth round PR: Preliminary round Pld: Matches played AP: Appearances SF: Semi-finals QF: Quarter-finals Pos.: Position Comp.: Competition R16: round of 16 QR: Qualifying round Pts: Points D: Drawn R32: Round of 32 1QR: First qualifying round R: Sent off (straight red card) DoB: Date of birth 1st: first leg 2QR: Second qualifying Res.: Result ET: Extra Time round sg: Match decided by silver GA: Goals against 2nd: second leg FT: Final tournament goal t: Match decided by toss of a PO: Play-off ELITE: Elite round coin Rep: Replay 3rdPO: Third-place play-off GF: Goals for W: Won PO - FT: Play-off for Final GS-FT: Group stage – final gg: Match decided by golden Y: Booked Tournament tournament goal L: Lost Y/R: Sent off (two yellow Nat.: Nationality cards) N/A: Not applicable f: Match forfeited Statistics -: Denotes player substituted +: Denotes player introduced *: Denotes player sent off +/-: Denotes player introduced and substituted Squad list D: Disciplinary *: Misses next match if booked S: Suspended QUAL: All UEFA qualifiers UEL: Current season total UEFA Europa League appearances from the group stage onwards prior to the current matchday UEL: Total appearances in the UEFA Europa League, group stage to final only UEFA: All-time total appearances in UEFA club competition including qualifying Disclaimer: Although UEFA has taken all reasonable care that the information contained within this document is accurate at the time of publication, no representation or guarantee (including liability towards third parties), expressed or implied, is made as to its accuracy, reliability or completeness. Therefore, UEFA assumes no liability for the use or interpretation of information contained herein. More information can be found in the competition regulations available on UEFA.com. 4.