The floodlights are on, the noise is already rising, and Borussia Dortmund have a point to prove. Villarreal return to Westfalenstadion for the league phase of the Champions League, a year after Niko Kovac’s side dismantled BVB 4-0 in their first-ever meeting.
That scoreline still stings in these parts. Tonight, Dortmund send out a very different look, and a very clear message.
Dortmund reshaped, but Guirassy still leads the line
There is change all over the pitch for the hosts. Joey Veerman, signed to bring control and incision in midfield, goes straight into the XI. Alongside him, Konstantinos Karetsas starts, the latest highly rated talent trusted with the responsibility of operating between the lines in a game of this magnitude.
Ethan Nwaneri, the teenager who sparked the decisive goal in the dramatic comeback win over Hoffenheim, has to wait again. He begins on the bench, a weapon held back for later.
Up front, though, there is a familiar threat. Serhou Guirassy, the man who struck the first two goals in last season’s 4-0 demolition, leads the attack once more. Dortmund know exactly what he can do on this stage. So do Villarreal, and that cuts both ways: confidence for the striker, a warning siren for the visitors.
Behind him, Maximilian Beier joins Karetsas in support, with Marcel Sabitzer and Veerman expected to dictate the tempo and feed the front line. Felix Nmecha offers legs and bite in midfield, while Julian Ryerson provides thrust from wide. At the back, Kobel starts in goal, shielded by Gadou, captain Anton, and Svensson in a three-man defensive unit.
This is not the same Dortmund Villarreal ripped apart last season. The memory remains, but the structure, and some of the personalities, have changed.
Gulácsi back in Germany, tiny away following
On the other side, one figure draws the eye immediately. Péter Gulácsi, a legend at RB Leipzig and a familiar presence to Bundesliga supporters, returns to Germany for his first continental outing in Villarreal colors. He knows this country, these stadiums, this kind of noise. That experience will be invaluable in a venue that can swallow visiting sides whole.
He may need every ounce of it. Reports earlier in the day indicated that just 39 Villarreal fans have made the journey and will occupy the away section. In a ground that can feel like a wall of sound, that number is almost symbolic: a tiny yellow pocket against a vast sea of black and yellow.
For Villarreal, the memory of last season’s emphatic win is a source of belief. For Dortmund, it is fuel.
The stage is set: a reshaped BVB, an old tormentor in Guirassy, Gulácsi back on German soil, and barely a handful of traveling supporters trying to make themselves heard in one of Europe’s loudest arenas. Now it’s down to the players to decide whether this is a repeat performance or a reckoning.
