Borussia Dortmund, founded in 1909, remain one of German football’s most recognisable clubs, with Signal Iduna Park still central to their identity. For Celtic supporters, they are familiar as the kind of continental opponent whose scale is obvious before a ball is kicked.
Their 2026-27 season has them sitting second in the Bundesliga, with a young squad of 30 players averaging 24 years of age. Transfermarkt puts their squad value at around £423.5m, which gives a fair sense of the resources involved without needing much embellishment.
Dortmund’s recent league form has been strong: wins over Stuttgart, Paderborn 07, 1899 Hoffenheim, Hamburg and Werder Bremen came before a 2-2 draw with Werder Bremen at home. They have also tended to start sharply, scoring the first goal inside 20 minutes in six of 18 league matches.
Their season has also included the DFB-Pokal second round, the DFL-Supercup final and the Champions League league phase. As things stand, Dortmund are a high-level Bundesliga side in form, relevant to Celtic chiefly as a measure of the pace, depth and efficiency found near the top of the German game.
📈 Key stats and insights
⚔️ How they compare to Celtic
Compared with Celtic, Dortmund present a trade-off: Celtic have the clearer attacking threat and sit top with 21 points, while Dortmund offer the sturdier defensive template and will be the tougher side to break down; the contest comes down to whether Celtic's forward play can pierce Dortmund's compact defensive setup.
