Three days after clawing back a 3-2 win at Hoffenheim in the Bundesliga, Borussia Dortmund return to Signal Iduna Park for their first Champions League fixture of the 2026-27 league phase. Niko Kovac’s side carry genuine confidence into the European stage opener, having won three of their last four competitive matches. Villarreal arrive in Dortmund in a very different mood, having conceded three goals at home to Deportivo La Coruna just 72 hours ago in La Liga. It is a matchup of contrasting form lines at the start of a league phase where 16 of the 36 participating clubs will advance directly.
What’s at stake
The Champions League has adopted a 36-team single league phase format for 2026-27, with the top 16 sides at the end of the phase advancing automatically to the round of 16. Every point from matchday one carries weight across what will be an eight-game campaign, making early momentum genuinely useful even if nothing is close to decided. For Dortmund, who have twice reached the Champions League final in recent years, European nights at Signal Iduna Park matter both financially and in terms of squad morale.
A home win puts Dortmund on the board early and keeps pace with the clubs above them in the standings. For Villarreal, dropping points on the road in their very first game, on the back of a home defeat in La Liga, would mean beginning the European campaign under early scrutiny. A positive result away in Germany would do a great deal to steady confidence after a rough week domestically, while a second loss in three days would raise questions for Inigo Perez heading into the early rounds.
How they got here
Dortmund have won three of their last five competitive outings. The most recent was that 3-2 comeback at Hoffenheim, followed by a 5-0 DFB Pokal demolition of HEBC and a clean 2-0 home win over Hamburger SV in the Bundesliga. Their only competitive loss in that stretch came against Bayern München in the Super Cup, a 2-1 home defeat that is understandable given the opposition. Villarreal’s last five tell a different story: back-to-back La Liga losses against Deportivo La Coruna (2-3 at home) and Alaves (0-1 away), sandwiched around two draws against Atletico Madrid and Racing Santander. Their last win came in a pre-season friendly against Galatasaray in August.
The form gap between these two sides heading into matchday one is as clear as it gets at this early stage of the season. Dortmund have scored ten goals across their last three wins and look sharp in attack, with Serhou Guirassy and Fabio Silva available up front. Villarreal have scored just four goals across their last four La Liga matches and have already conceded seven.
Key battle to watch
The duel between Villarreal’s central defensive unit and Dortmund’s front line will set the tone. Juan Foyth and Logan Costa have been exposed in recent La Liga games, conceding seven times in four matches. Against a Dortmund attack featuring Guirassy, who led BVB’s goalscoring last season, and the options Kovac can cycle from the bench including Fabio Silva and Marcel Beier, Villarreal’s backline faces a serious test. If Dortmund can press high and force turnovers in Villarreal’s half, the visitors’ defensive frailty could become a factor very quickly.
Key Stats
Match Context
Standings
Head To Head
Our Prediction
Dortmund are the better-prepared side going into this match, both tactically and psychologically after their Hoffenheim comeback. Villarreal’s defensive numbers from La Liga are hard to ignore, and Signal Iduna Park is not a place opponents tend to recover when they go behind. Expect Dortmund to control enough of this game to take three points, though Villarreal’s attacking options, including Gerard Moreno and Nicolas Pepe, give them the tools to make it uncomfortable.