Dortmund and APOEL hopes hang by a thread

After a draw in Cyprus that did little good to either Borussia Dortmund or APOEL FC's hopes of progressing from Group H, the teams meet again in Germany knowing time is fast running out to get back into contention.

• The 1-1 draw in Nicosia at least got both sides off the mark after two defeats apiece, but with Real Madrid CF and Tottenham Hotspur FC six points ahead in the standings, nothing less than a win will do for either club at the BVB Stadion Dortmund.

• Neither team will be able to finish in the top two if they lose this game.

Match background

Dortmund
• This is Dortmund's first home match against opponents from Cyprus.

• Dortmund, contesting the group stage for the 12th time and a sixth in seven years, have reached the knockout stage on their last four UEFA Champions League appearances. In 2016/17 they beat SL Benfica 4-1 on aggregate in the round of 16, subsequently losing 6-3 to Monaco over two legs (2-3 home, 1-3 away).

• That home defeat by Monaco ended Dortmund's seven-match unbeaten home run in Europe (W5 D2); they were also beaten 3-1 by Real Madrid in Germany on matchday two.

• Dortmund scooped seven points at home in last season's group stage, overcoming Sporting Clube de Portugal 1-0 and Legia Warszawa 8-4 – the latter providing the most goals in a UEFA Champions League match.

• BVB have won only one of their last eight European games (D2 L5) and had lost four in a row prior to matchday three.

APOEL
• This is APOEL's ninth away match against German opponents. They have lost seven of those previous fixtures, including the last two.

• The Cypriot side's sole win against a German club, home or away, came against Berliner FC Dynamo in the 1980/81 European Champion Clubs' Cup first round, when they won the second leg 2-1 in Nicosia. APOEL nevertheless bowed out, having gone down 3-0 in the first game in Berlin.

• Furthermore, APOEL have avoided defeat in only three of their 16 matches against German teams; the Dortmund draw, that Berlin success and a 1-1 draw away to FC Schalke 04 in the 2008/09 UEFA Cup first round second leg (2-5 aggregate).

• APOEL's last fixtures against a Bundesliga club also came against Schalke, in the 2015/16 UEFA Europa League group stage (0-3 home, 0-1 away).

• The Nicosia outfit have scored just two goals in away games with Bundesliga opposition, conceding 23.

• APOEL have lost six of their last eight European away fixtures, succumbing 3-0 at Real Madrid on matchday one. APOEL have never won away in 12 UEFA Champions League matches, group stage to final, though they did draw five of their first six – before losing all of the next six.

• APOEL have not won a game in the UEFA Champions League, group stage to final, since beating Olympique Lyonnais 1-0 in the round of 16 second leg on 7 March 2012. Their subsequent record is D2 L9.

• The Cypriot club are in the group stage for a fourth time, having previously qualified in 2009/10, 2011/12 – when they went all the way from second qualifying round to quarter-finals, losing to Real Madrid – and 2014/15.

• APOEL have won through from the second qualifying round to reach this group stage, beating Luxembourg's F91 Dudelange (2-0 on aggregate) and FC Viitorul of Romania (4-1). In the play-offs they overcame SK Slavia Praha 2-0 at home before a goalless away draw.

• Thwarted in the play-offs by FC København 12 months ago, APOEL went on to finish first in their UEFA Europa League group, subsequently ousting Athletic Club 4-3 on aggregate in the round of 32 before losing to Anderlecht 1-0 both home and away in the last 16.

Coach and player links
• Marc Bartra helped FC Barcelona to home (1-0) and away (4-0) victories against APOEL in the 2014/15 group stage. Carlão, Vinicius, Nuno Morais, Stathis Aloneftis and George Efrem played for the Cypriot club.

• Nuri Şahin was in the Real Madrid side that beat APOEL in the 2011/12 quarter-finals. Nuno Morais and Nektarios Alexandrou represented the Cypriot team.

• Sokratis Papastathopoulos plays alongside VfB Stuttgart's Anastasios Donis, son of APOEL coach Giorgos Donis, for Greece.

• Andriy Yarmolenko helped Ukraine to a 1-0 friendly win against Cyprus on 24 March 2016; Efrem and Antreas Makris played for the losing side.

• Shinji Kagawa was in the Japan team that scalped Cyprus 1-0 on 27 May 2014, with Efrem and Giorgos Merkis featuring.

• Have played in Germany:
Boy Waterman (TSV Alemannia Aachen, 2011/12).
Efstathios Aloneftis (FC Energie Cottbus 2007/08)
Mikaël Poté (1. FC Dynamo Dresden, 2011–14).
Igor de Camargo (VfL Borussia Mönchengladbach, 2010–13;  TSG 1899 Hoffenheim, 2013)

• Have played together:
Marco Reus & Igor de Camargo (VfL Borussia Mönchengladbach, 2010–12)
Andriy Yarmolenko & Facundo Bertoglio (FC Dynamo Kyiv, 2011/12)

Match facts

Dortmund
• Jeremy Toljan and Julian Weigl will incur a suspension with their next booking.

• Dortmund advanced to the last 16 of the German Cup with a 5-0 win at third tier 1. FC Magdeburg on 24 October, Alexander Isak capping his maiden start with a first goal for the club.

• Dortmund have won only two of their last seven games in all competitions.

• Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who missed the Magdeburg game due to muscular problems but returned for Saturday's 4-2 loss at Hannover 96 that cost Dortmund the Bundesliga lead, has 15 goals in 15 outings for BVB this term.

• Raphaël Guerreiro and André Schürrle, out injured since June and August respectively, returned to action at Magdeburg.

• Ömer Toprak has been out since suffering a thigh injury at APOEL on matchday three.

• Łukasz Piszczek (knee), Erik Durm (hip), Sebastian Rode (pubic bone) and Marco Reus (knee) are long-term absentees.

• Aubameyang is on the 30-man shortlist for the Ballon d'Or. The winner will be announced on 6 December.

APOEL 
• Lorenzo Ebecilio and Roland Sallai are a booking away from a ban.

• APOEL have made a slow start to the defence of their Cypriot title with two defeats and two draws in their opening seven league games.

• APOEL have won two but lost four of their last nine matches in all competitions, only scoring six goals in the process.

• Giorgos Donis has seen his side hit by a spate of injuries this season. Bertoglio has been out since August while Waterman came off against Dortmund on matchday three. Carlão has not featured since 1 October while Roberto Lago was replaced after 28 minutes of the 3-1 defeat at AEK Larnaca FC on 21 October.

• George Efrem made his first appearance in two months in Saturday's 1-1 draw with Ethnikos Achnas FC when De Camargo also returned after his injury against BVB.

• Donis offered his resignation after Saturday's draw; the club later announced it had not been accepted.

• Waterman suffered a serious shoulder injury against Dortmund, ruling him out until the new year after surgery. Raúl Gudiño, who is on loan from Porto B, became the first Mexican goalkeeper to feature in the UEFA Champions League when he replaced him during the game against BVB.