AC Milan trained with Borussia's songs in the background

Tuesday, 19:30 Nairobi time. Borussia’s Signal Iduna Park is empty, and AC Milan players are coming on the pitch. The last training before tonight’s Round 2 Champions League match starts, and suddenly, Dortmund’s songs are blasting from the speakers. And it was intentional. Borussia fans are unforgettable, and the famous ‘Yellow Wall’ is familiar (and impressive) to everybody in Europe, so coach Stefano Poli wanted to be prepared as much as possible and arranged so that his players experience the home crowd on their last training.

BVB is still unbeaten in the league, even in all competitions in its own stadium since August 20, 2022 (2:3 against Bremen).

“I know what we can expect here in this stadium. The players also have to get used to it. That's why we prepared the game like that. It will be important to communicate well with each other on the field. For they will not hear my voice” said Pioli.

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Some of the few players who already know the atmosphere in Dortmund are Christian Pulišić and Malick Thiaw. The German defender played for Borussia’s greatest rival – Schalke.

“I’m still Schalke. And always will be. It's a little private duel when you play here in Dortmund. I told my teammates that they have one of the biggest fanbases in the world and I think Christian knows even better than me, he spoke to the guys even more than me" said Thiaw. On the other hand, Pulišić came through the Borussia youth ranks and played for BVB until his move to Chelsea in 2019.

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In the ‘Group of Death’, two defeats could easily mean elimination from the first phase. After a defeat in Paris from PSG (2-0), Dortmund could go down in case of another defeat, so the pressure is already on after only one game.

“As a rule, you need around ten points in the group phase to move into the next round. If you calculate that down, you know how important the home games are. With the guys we have and the support in our stadium we will have plenty of opportunities to win the game. But for that we need a really good performance” said coach Edin Terzić.

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE - MATCHDAY 2

Tuesday

Union Berlin - Braga 2-3(2-1)

/Becker 30, 37 - Niakate 41, Bruma 51, Castro 90+3/

Salzburg - Sociedad 0-2 (0-2)

/Oyarzabal 7, Mendez 27/

Copenhagen - Bayern 1-2 (0-0)

/Lerager 55 - Musiala 67, Tel 83/

Man.Utd. - Galatasaray 2-3 (1-1)

/Hojlund 17, 67 - Zaha 23, Akturkoglu 72, Icardi 81/

Lens - Arsenal 2-1 (1-1)

/Thomasson 25, Wahi 69 - Jesus 14/

PSV - Sevilla 2-2 (0-0)

/De Joong (p) 86, Teze 90+5 - Gudelj 68, El-Nesyri 87/

Napoli - Real Madrid 2-3 (1-2)

/Ostigard 19, Zielinski 54(p) - Vinicius 27, Bellingham 34, Meret 78/

Inter - Benfica 1-0 (0-0)

/Thuram 62/

Wednesday

19:45: (1.63) Atl.Madrid (4.00) Feyenoord (6.25)

19:45: (1.90) Antwerp (3.70) Shakhtar (4.40)

22:00: (3.00) Celtic (3.50) Lazio (2.45)

22:00: (2.40) Dortmund (3.50) Milan (3.05)

22:00: (2.50) Newcastle (3.60) PSG (2.90)

22:00: (2.20) Crvena Zvezda (3.50) Young Boys (3.45)

22:00: (5.40) RB Leipzig (4.10) Man.City (1.67)

22:00: (4.20) Porto (3.60) Barcelona (1.95)

***odds are subject to change***