Atlético v Dortmund facts

An emphatic win against Atlético Madrid on matchday three has put Borussia Dortmund in charge of Group A, although the Spanish side remain well placed in the standings as they look to turn the tables on their German opponents.

• Last time out Axel Witsel's deflected 38th-minute opener was added to by further goals from substitutes Raphaël Guerreiro (73, 89) and Jadon Sancho (83) to inflict Atlético's joint heaviest European defeat.

• Dortmund therefore have nine points having won every game; Atlético are three points further back in second place, and hold a five-point cushion over both Club Brugge and Monaco. Dortmund will therefore be through as group winners with victory while Atlético will be through, in tandem with Dortmund, with a win if the game between Monaco and Club Brugge is drawn.

Previous meetings
• Before matchday three, the sides had met in four previous matches, most recently in the 1996/97 UEFA Champions League group stage when each recorded an away victory. Dortmund were 1-0 winners in Spain before a 2-1 Atlético success in Germany; the pair finished level on 13 points, Atlético winning the section ahead of Dortmund on head-to-head record. It was the German club, however, who would go on to lift the trophy that season, beating Juventus in the final; Atlético were eliminated by Ajax in the quarter-finals.

• Dortmund came out on top in the 1965/66 European Cup Winners' Cup quarter-final between the teams, following a 1-1 draw in Spain with a 1-0 home victory. The German side also went on to win the trophy that season.

Form guide
Atlético
• Diego Simeone's side were 3-1 winners at home to Club Brugge on matchday two having won their opening fixture at Monaco 2-1.

• The defeat in Dortmund ended Atlético's five-match winning run in European games, and was only their second defeat in their last 17 matches in continental competition (W11 D4).

• UEFA Champions League finalists in 2014 and 2016, and semi-finalists two seasons ago, Atlético won only one game in the 2017/18 competition, drawing four to finish behind Roma and Chelsea in their section.

• Atlético won only one of their three home games in last season's group stage, and had their 11-match unbeaten home European run (W9 D2) ended by a 2-1 loss against Chelsea on matchday two – the Spanish club's first continental game at their new Estadio Metropolitano home.

• Atlético have won their last six home European matches – the Club Brugge success on matchday two was the only one in which they conceded a goal. The Chelsea reverse is their only loss in the last 19 games in their own stadium (W15 D3).

• Atlético are on an eight-match unbeaten run at home to German clubs (W6 D2), dating back to the 1-0 defeat by Dortmund in the 1996/97 group stage. Most recently, they draw 0-0 at home to Bayer Leverkusen in the 2016/17 UEFA Champions League round of 16 second leg (4-2 aggregate).

• Atlético have already lifted European silverware this season, beating Real Madrid 4-2 in August's UEFA Super Cup in Tallinn – making them the first team to win the competition on their first three appearances.

• The Rojiblancos have reached two UEFA Champions League and three UEFA Europa League finals in the last nine seasons.

Dortmund
• Having opened the section with a 1-0 win at Club Brugge, Lucien Favre's side were 3-0 home victors against Monaco on matchday two.

• Before this season, Dortmund had won only one of their last 11 UEFA Champions League fixtures (D3 L7); they have now won three in a row, their best run since autumn 2016.

• Fourth in last season's Bundesliga, the German club are in the group stage for the third season running, and the seventh time in eight years – in their 2017/18 campaign they picked up only two points from their six fixtures. They went on to reach the UEFA Europa League round of 16, losing to Salzburg.

• The Club Brugge result was BVB's first win in seven away UEFA Champions League matches (D2 L4), since a 2-1 victory at Sporting CP in October 2016.

• Victory in Belgium on matchday one ended Dortmund's eight-match sequence without an away European win (D4 L4).

• Dortmund have won just once in 14 previous visits to Spain (D5 L8) and were beaten 3-2 at Real Madrid on matchday six last season, their last visit. The solitary success was that 1-0 victory at Atlético in the 1996/97 group stage, courtesy of a Stefan Reuter goal.

• Before matchday three, BVB's last eight games against Spanish sides had all pitted them against Real Madrid; they won only two of those contests. The defeat of Atlético ended a four-match run without a victory against Liga opposition (D2 L2).

Links and trivia
• Atlético's Thomas Lemar provided three assists in Monaco's 6-3 aggregate win against Dortmund in the 2016/17 UEFA Champions League quarter-finals. Shinji Kagawa and Marco Reus were among the German club's scorers.

• Have played in Spain:
Paco Alcácer (Valencia 2009–16, Getafe 2012/13 loan, Barcelona 2016–18)
Sergio Gómez (Barcelona 2017/18)
Achraf Hakimi (Real Madrid 2016–18)

• International team-mates:
Gelson Martins & Raphäel Guerreiro (Portugal)
Saúl Ñíguez, Koke, Diego Costa, Rodri, Juanfran, Vitolo & Paco Alcácer (Spain)

Latest news

Atlético 
• Antoine Griezmann's next appearance in the UEFA Champions League, group stage to final, will be his 50th.

• The 4-0 loss in Dortmund was Atlético's biggest defeat of Diego Simeone's reign and their heaviest since a 5-0 reverse at Barcelona on 24 September 2011.

• Diego Costa scored twice in Atlético's 4-2 extra-time defeat of Real Madrid in the UEFA Super Cup in Tallinn on 15 August. Saúl Ñíguez and Koke were also on target.

• Costa has scored three goals in four UEFA club competition appearances this season, but has not found the net in domestic football since striking against Sevilla on 25 February. He has not scored in 17 Liga appearances but has since scored five goals in Europe.

• Five points from four matches this season represented Atlético's worst start to a Liga campaign under Diego Simeone. They have, however, won four of their last seven league fixtures, drawing the other three, including 1-1 at Leganés on Saturday.

• Atlético's haul of 20 points after 11 games is nevertheless their lowest total at this stage of the season since Simeone took charge.

• Griezmann scored Atlético's goal at the weekend, his third in this season's Liga – and a first since 25 September – in his 11th appearance.

• Gelson Martins scored his first Atlético goal in a 1-0 victory at Sant Andreu in the Copa del Rey fourth round first leg on 30 October.

• Stefan Savić (calf) was out between 10 September and 27 October, while Vitolo made his first appearance since spraining a knee in the 1-1 draw at Valencia on 20 August against Sant Andreu.

• Costa was out between 3 and 24 October and José María Giménez was sidelined between 3 and 20 October, both with hamstring injuries. Neither played at the weekend, although Giménez was an unused substitute.

Dortmund
• Marco Reus made his 50th appearance in UEFA club competition on matchday three.

• Dortmund are still unbeaten this season (W12 D3), but their run of six wins in all competitions was halted by a 2-2 draw against Hertha Berlin on 27 October.

• Reus got the only goal at Wolfsburg on Saturday, a result that took Dortmund four points clear in the Bundesliga.

• Jadon Sancho scored twice against Hertha and has four goals in his last five appearances.

• BVB have scored 30 goals in their first ten Bundesliga games.

• Dortmund reached the last 16 of the German Cup with a 3-2 extra-time win against 2. Bundesliga club Union Berlin on 31 October, Reus scoring a last-minute penalty winner.

• Paco Alcácer has scored seven goals in his first five Bundesliga matches, in only 207 minutes of playing time.

• Alcácer missed two games due to muscular problems, but was an unused substitute against Union and played 78 minutes at Wolfsburg.

• Thomas Delaney made his first appearance since matchday three at Wolfsburg after recovering from a foot problem while Łukasz Piszczek (knee) and Mario Götze (ill) have missed the last two games.

• Abdou Diallo was substituted after 14 minutes against Union having suffered an adductors injury and was absent at the weekend.

• Marcel Schmelzer has been out since 26 September with a knee injury although Manuel Akanji (hip) made his first appearance since 6 October at Wolfsburg while Jeremy Toljan was on the bench after a knee problem.

• On 26 September Dortmund earned their biggest Bundesliga win in 32 years, beating Nürnberg 7-0.

• Ömer Toprak made his first appearance of the season against Hertha after a thigh injury.