Borussia Dortmund vs Atalanta: Match preview, predicted line-ups, team news and prediction
Off the back of three straight wins for both sides, Borussia Dortmund and Atalanta will seek to carry over their domestic resurgence onto the European scene when they face off at Signal Iduna Park on Tuesday.
Ahead of next week’s return leg in Italy, both teams will be looking to steal a march here and put one foot into the Champions League last 16.
Match preview
After narrow victories over Heidenheim and Wolfsburg, Dortmund put on their most dominant display of 2026 in Friday’s 4-0 demolition of Mainz.
A first-half double from Serhou Guirassy led the onslaught, but it was Julian Ryerson who was the star of the show, assisting all four goals for Niko Kovac’s men.
While BVB still have a mammoth task to overturn their current six-point gap from Bayern Munich in the title race, their recent form has sparked optimism for the second half of the campaign.
Dortmund could have really done without the added burden of the UCL knockout play-offs, although they have only themselves to blame, having won just one of their final five league-phase clashes, most recently a 2-0 defeat to Inter Milan.
That was in keeping with Dortmund’s poor European record against Italian teams, as they have now won just one of their last seven UCL matches against Serie A opponents.
In contrast, Atalanta have won both of their Champions League matches against Bundesliga outfits, beating Frankfurt and Stuttgart by a combined score of 5-0.
Currently on a three-game winning run, which includes victories over Juventus and Lazio, Raffaele Palladino’s men are in arguably their best form of the season.
Opening the scoring in eight of their last 10 outings, fast starts have often set the platform for most of La Dea’s recent wins.
Atalanta will hope to replicate that against a Dortmund side who have only failed to break the deadlock just twice over their last 10 affairs.
With a home clash against Napoli looming after the trip to Germany, Tuesday’s visitors will need to be at their best to deliver a strong finish to a demanding February schedule they have navigated well so far.
Team news
Twenty-year-old Filippo Mane has missed Dortmund’s last two matches with a thigh issue and is ruled out for Tuesday.
Serhou Guirassy has netted five times in his last three appearances and will look to continue his hot streak in front of goal.
Charles De Ketelaere has been directly involved in four of Atalanta’s 10 UCL goals this term, but will not feature against Dortmund due to a knee problem.
Giacomo Raspadori has been diagnosed with a first-degree left flexor strain after a second-half cameo against Lazio last time out.
Borussia Dortmund Predicted XI (3-4-2-1): Kobel; Can, Anton, Bensebaini; Ryerson, Bellingham, Nmecha, Svensson; Brandt, Beier; Guirassy
Atalanta Predicted XI (3-4-2-1): Carnesecchi; Ahanor, Djimsiti, Scalvini; Zalewski, Ederson, De Roon, Zappacosta; Bernasconi, Samardzic; Krstovic
Prediction: Borussia Dortmund 1-1 Atalanta