Borussia Dortmund

30th January 2017. By Edward Stratmann.
After an injury ravaged 2016, that was punctuated by him missing 185 consecutive days, which ultimately cost him his spot at the Euros, when Marco Reus finally returned on November 23 of last year for Borussia Dortmund's Champions League encounter with Legia Warsaw, he didn't waste any time reminding us all what an extraordinary talent he is.

In what was a scintillating man of the match performance from the classy German in Dortmund's crazy 8-4 win against the Poles, he bagged a brace and chimed in with two assists to highlight his genius.

An unsurprisingly delighted Reus spoke of his joy at finally being able to make his long awaited return in his post match comments, saying: "I was overjoyed to play from the beginning. This is how you imagine a comeback after such a long time.

"I was looking forward to this. This was an important step for me. I've worked hard for this moment. I didn't toil myself to death today, I'm

28th December 2016. By Ryan Baldi.
With the Bundesliga in the midst of its winter break, Borussia Dortmund fans will be reflecting upon what has been a rather frustrating start to the 2016-17 campaign.

Despite the loss of key players Mats Hummels, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Ilkay Gundogan over the summer, BVB were once again expected to be the closest challengers to Bayern Munich after replacing the outgoing stars with a mixture of prodigious youngsters and experienced top-flight professionals.

Yet, with 16 games played, the Black and Yellows are sixth in the table, a full 12 points adrift of Bayern and trailing behind the likes of RB Leipzig and Hoffenheim. Six draws and three defeats have left Dortmund outside the Champions League qualifying positions as they struggle to find the kind of consistency which saw them collect 78 points in total last term a tally which would have seen them crowned champions in all but four seasons throughout Bundesliga history.

After

29th June 2016. By Ryan Baldi.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan, according to wide-spread media reports, is on the verge of a headline-grabbing switch to Manchester United. The Borussia Dortmund playmaker has one year remaining on his contract with the Bundesliga club and, via his agent Mino Raiola, has agitated for his "dream move" to the 20-time champions of England.

For those who are not avid viewers of German football, the 59-cap Armenian international may be somewhat of an unknown quantity.

But if Mkhitaryan does indeed make the switch to the Theatre of Dreams, he will soon become a household name albeit one that many will struggle to pronounce and fewer still will be able to spell.

Mkhitaryan joined Dortmund from Shakhtar Donetsk in 2013 for €27.5 million a club record fee. During his three year stay in Donetsk, Mkhitaryan had marked himself out as one the most gifted creative midfielders in Europe; he'd guided Shakhtar to domestic title wins in each of his three s

2nd May 2016.
Three times in the past decade, Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund have met in the final of the DFB Pokal. In 2008, Dortmund fell behind 11 minutes into the match but scored in stoppage time to buy themselves another opportunity at the win. The Bavarians pulled ahead in extra time to win their 14^th DFB Pokal title.

Dortmund had their revenge four years later, crushing Bayern Munich 5-2 to win their first DFB Pokal since 1989. It was just one feather in the cap of a fabulous season for the Black and Yellows, who would also go on to beat Munich by eight points in the Bundesliga.

The third match-up played a good deal more like the first. In 2014, Dortmund managed to hold Munich to a scoreless stalemate throughout the first 90 minutes of play. In extra time, though, the superior Bayern team outlasted Dortmund, scoring two goals to bring their DFB Pokal title haul to 17.

A Fierce Rivalry<

23rd April 2016.
A year ago, Sevilla FC made history by becoming the first football club ever to win the Europa League four times. Equally remarkable, the win marked the second time that Sevilla had won back-to-back UEL titles, as the team had won their first three titles in 2006, 2007, and 2014, respectively. Now, with just four teams left standing in Europe's secondary club football competition, Sevilla are looking to make history once more, by winning the tournament for a third time in a row.

Already, Sevilla is the only team ever to win two Europa Leagues back-to-back, and they've done it twice. If any team is going to win three in a row, it's only fitting that the Red and Whites would be that organization.

The Semi-Final Draw

Not that Sevilla has the easiest path to the top of the podium. Competition is heating up in the 2015/16 Europa League-to the point where the Red and Whites only just

28th March 2016.
Could Sevilla be on a crash course for a third consecutive title in the UEFA Europa League? Will Jurgen Klopp be able to coach a victory out of Liverpool as his new team faces his former club? These are just two of the fascinating narratives that are at play as the Europa League barrels into the quarterfinal round.

This year's UEL round of 16 was a bloodbath for many of the tournament's most promising performers. Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United both fell out of contention, putting a huge dent in the chances of a Premier League team winning some European silverware this year. Lazio, following a nine-game undefeated run in this tournament, lost big in their second-leg match against Sparta Prague. That defeat, coupled with an early Champions League loss for Juventus, means that no Serie A squads are still active in either UEFA tournament. And Valencia, after a remarkable 10-0 aggregate against Rapid Wien in the round of 16, lost in extra time to Athletic

In terms of UEFA coefficient rankings (and judging by the last few Champions League and Europa League tournaments), the Spanish La Liga is the best football league in Europe. The English Premier League, meanwhile, is incredibly wealthy and is consistently cited as the most fiercely competitive division in all of soccer. While these two leagues boast plenty of virtues, though, there is one key superlative they do not have: the top stadium attendance in Europe.

Germany's Impressive Numbers

Indeed, on February 25^th, the German Bundesliga announced its spectator figures for the first half of the 2015/16 campaign. According to the report, a grand total of 6,478,680 soccer fans came out to see the 153 Bundesliga games that took place between August and December 2015. That number figures out to a per-match average of 42,344 spectators-not only the highest tally of any league in Europe but also the highest of any football

Last season, the DFB Pokal was easily the most surprising event in German football. In fact, it might have been one of the most surprising events in all of European soccer. Bayern Munich were in the midst of yet another dominant season in the Bundesliga and were widely expected to win yet another German Cup. Had the Bavarians won the DFB Pokal, it would have been their third trophy in a row in the event, and their 18^th overall.

Borussia Dortmund, meanwhile, were in the midst of one of their worst seasons ever-a campaign that saw the venerated club drop from second place in the Bundesliga to seventh, and one that pushed the widely respected Jurgen Klopp to resign his post as BVB's manager. In 2013/14, Dortmund had lost to Bayern Munich in the DFB Pokal, falling behind 0-2 in extra time. When the two clubs were drawn against one another for a semi-final match, the writing seemed to be on the wall that Dortmund's last shot at redemption in the 2014/15 season was about to

Right now, Leicester City, Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal, Manchester City, Manchester United, and arguably even West Ham United are all battling to clinch one of the English Premier League's top four spots. As in previous years, the top four clubs in the division this season will qualify for the Champions League-with the top three earning entry into the group stage and the fourth-place club heading into the final play-off round.

The race for these four slots is even more intense this year, given the fact that last year's EPL champion-Chelsea FC-has very little chance of qualifying for the Champions League. As such, clubs that haven't traditionally qualified for Europe's most prestigious tournament in the past-Leicester, Tottenham, and West Ham are getting ever close to breaking the cycle in 2016.

But what if England didn't get four spots in the Champions League? Recent rumors have suggested that the Premier League could, at some point in the not-too-distant future, be

By Karl Matchett.

German Bundesliga side Borussia Dortmund put themselves in a strong position in the UEFA Europa League last 32 with a 2-0 first leg win over FC Porto on Thursday, keeping Thomas Tuchel's side in with a shout of double cup success for the season.

While the latter stages of the Europa League are still some way off, BVB are already in the semi-finals of the DFB-Pokal and are just six points off top spot in the Bundesliga itself, with a home game still to play against leaders Bayern Munich. While the domestic league title might prove to be beyond them if Bayern don't slip up elsewhere, there is still plenty of reason to be optimistic