Real Madrid vs Borussia Dortmund facts

Matchday 3 of the 2024/25 Champions League brings a repeat of last season's final as Real Madrid welcome Borussia Dortmund to the Santiago Bernabéu.

The Spanish side claimed their 15th European Cup with a 2-0 defeat of Dortmund at Wembley on 1 June and made a winning start to this season's Champions League only to suffer an unexpected 1-0 loss at LOSC Lille on Matchday 2. Dortmund are the top scorers in this season's competition after two matches, a 3-0 win at Club Brugge preceding a 7-1 home success against Celtic.

Previous meetings

Matches 15
Madrid wins 7
Dortmund wins 3
Draws 5
Madrid goals 26
Dortmund goals 19

All 15 of the teams' past contests have come in the Champions League.

2024 final
Dortmund 0-2 Madrid
Goals from Dani Carvajal (74) and Vinícius Júnior (83) gave Madrid their 15th European Cup, Niclas Füllkrug having hit the post for Dortmund in the first half.

2017/18 group stage
Dortmund 1-3 Madrid
Madrid 3-2 Dortmund
Gareth Bale scored once and Cristiano Ronaldo twice in Madrid's Matchday 2 victory in Germany before Lucas Vázquez's late winner in Spain.

2016/17 group stage
Dortmund 2-2 Madrid
Madrid 2-2 Dortmund
Dortmund twice came from behind to draw at home and secured first place in the section by recovering from 2-0 down to earn a point in Spain on Matchday 6, Karim Benzema's double cancelled out by Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Marco Reus.

2013/14 quarter-finals
Madrid 3-0 Dortmund
Dortmund 2-0 Madrid
Bale, Isco and Ronaldo earned Carlo Ancelotti's side a first-leg lead before Dortmund nearly mounted a remarkable comeback thanks to two Reus strikes in Germany.

2012/13 semi-finals
Dortmund 4-1 Madrid
Madrid 2-0 Dortmund
Robert Lewandowski was the star as Dortmund reached their second Champions League final, getting all four of his side's goals in the home first leg.

2012/13 group stage
Dortmund 2-1 Madrid
Madrid 2-2 Dortmund
Dortmund finished above Madrid with the help of a home win and a draw in Madrid.

2002/03 second group stage
Madrid 2-1 Dortmund
Dortmund 1-1 Madrid
Madrid came from behind to beat Dortmund on Matchday 3 in Group C thanks to goals from Raúl González and Brazilian striker Ronaldo, but needed a 92nd-minute Javier Portillo equaliser to rescue a draw in Germany. That proved crucial as the Spanish side edged out Dortmund by a single point to take second place in the section.

1997/98 semi-finals
Madrid 2-0 Dortmund
Dortmund 0-0 Madrid
Dortmund's defence of the Champions League was ended by Madrid. Fernando Morientes and Christian Karembeu scored in the Santiago Bernabéu first leg, Jupp Heynckes' side holding firm in Dortmund en route to claiming Madrid's first European Cup in 32 years.

Form guide

Real Madrid

Record vs German clubs: W43 D16 L24 F158 A122
Home record vs German clubs: W30 D7 L3

A 3-1 Matchday 1 win at home to Stuttgart was Madrid's fourth successive Champions League game against a German club, having beaten Bayern München 4-3 on aggregate in last season's semi-finals (2-2 a, 2-1 h) before the final defeat of Dortmund. They had also faced Union Berlin in the group stage (1-0 h, 3-2 a) and Leipzig in the round of 16 (1-0 a, 1-1 h).

A 3-2 loss at Leipzig on Matchday 5 in 2022/23 is Madrid's only defeat in 22 matches against Bundesliga clubs (W15 D6).

A 4-3 defeat by Schalke in the 2014/15 round of 16 second leg (5-4 aggregate) is Madrid's sole reverse in their last 24 home games against German teams (W18 D5).

Last season Carlo Ancelotti's side finished top of their section after winning all six Champions League group games for a record-equalling third time.

Leipzig were then overcome in the round of 16 before epic ties against holders Manchester City (3-3 h, 1-1 a, 4-3 pens) and Bayern (2-2 a, 2-1 h).

Madrid did not lose a game in a European Cup campaign for the first time (W9 D4).

Madrid are in the Champions League proper for the 29th time, a competition record they share with Barcelona. They last missed out in 1996/97 and have qualified for the knockout rounds in all 28 campaigns.

The Spanish side have won 19 of their last 28 home European games (D5 L4) and 18 of the most recent 24 (D4 L2).

Ancelotti's side have already claimed silverware this season, debutant Kylian Mbappé on target in a 2-0 win against Atalanta in the UEFA Super Cup in Warsaw on 14 August. It was Madrid's sixth triumph in the competition, a new record.

The Merengues claimed their second La Liga title in three years, and 36th overall, in 2023/24.

Borussia Dortmund

Record vs Spanish clubs: W12 D12 L15 F56 A57
Away record vs Spanish clubs: W3 D5 L11

BVB beat Madrid's City rivals Atlético in last season's quarter-finals (1-2 a, 4-2 h).

That second-leg win is one of only four in Dortmund's last 15 matches against Liga clubs overall (D5 L6).

Dortmund have lost six of their last nine matches in Spain, although they had won two in a row, both at Sevilla, before last season's defeat at Atleti.

BVB are in the Champions League proper for the 19th time overall and the ninth successive season. All but two of their last 11 campaigns have extended into the knockout rounds.

In 2023/24, Edin Terzić's team finished first in Group F before beating PSV Eindhoven (3-1 aggregate), Atlético and Paris Saint-Germain (2-0 agg) to reach Dortmund's third European Cup final.

This season's Matchday 1 win at Club Brugge made it 12 victories in BVB's late 28 away European matches (D3 L13).

European champions in 1997 and runners-up in 2013, Dortmund have been eliminated in the last 16 in three of their last six Champions League campaigns.

BVB were fifth in the Bundesliga in 2023/24, their lowest league placing since finishing seventh in 2014/15.

Nuri Şahin replaced Terzić as coach in the summer.

Links and trivia

Dortmund coach Şahin spent 2011/12 as a player at Madrid, but injury restricted him to just ten appearances.

Bellingham was a Dortmund player between 2020 and 2023, when he left for Madrid, scoring 24 goals in 132 games and also providing 25 assists. He was part of the team that won the DFB-Pokal in 2020/21.

Have also played in Germany:
David Alaba (Bayern München 2009–21)
Dani Carvajal (Bayer Leverkusen 2012/13)
Antonio Rüdiger (Stuttgart 2011–15)
Jesús Vallejo (Eintracht Frankfurt 2016/17)

Has played in Spain:
Yan Couto (Girona 2020/21 loan, 2022–24 loan)

Have played together:
Eduardo Camavinga & Serhou Guirassy (Rennes 2020–22)
Eduardo Camavinga & Ramy Bensebaini (Rennes 2018/19)
David Alaba & Emre Can (Bayern 2012/13)
David Alaba & Niklas Süle (Bayern 2017–21)

International team-mates:
Antonio Rüdiger & Niklas Süle, Julian Brandt, Emre Can, Nico Schlotterbeck, Marius Wolf, Felix Nmecha, Karim Adeyemi, Waldemar Anton, Pascal Gross, Maximilian Beier (Germany)
David Alaba & Marcel Sabitzer (Austria)
Vinícius Júnior, Rodrygo, Endrick, Éder Militão & Yan Couto (Brazil)

Latest news

Real Madrid

Defeat at Lille on Matchday 2 ended Madrid's 36-game unbeaten run in all competitions.

The Merengues have not lost in 41 La Liga games – two short of Barcelona's record set in 2018. On Saturday Kylian Mbappé and Vinícius Júnior earned a 2-1 win at Celta Vigo.

Vinícius Júnior has four assists in this season's Liga, one less than his total for 2023/24. He has been involved in at least one goal in his last six games (four goals, three assists).

On 10 October Eduardo Camavinga scored one and set up another as France beat Israel 4-1 while Jude Bellingham got England's goal in a 1-2 home loss to Greece, both in the UEFA Nations League.

Arda Güler scored in Türkiye's 4-2 victory in Iceland on 14 October.

Dani Carvajal is expected to miss the rest of the season after rupturing the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee during Madrid's 2-0 win against Villarreal on 5 October.

Éder Militão suffered a quadriceps injury in the same game while Thibaut Courtois picked up an adductor injury in a 1-1 derby draw at Atlético de Madrid on 29 September; both returned to play 90 minutes on Saturday.

Brahim Díaz (adductor, 14 September) has also been sidelined.

David Alaba has been out since December with a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee.

Dortmund

Dortmund's record in this season's Bundesliga is W4 D1 L2. They were 2-1 winners at home to St Pauli on Friday.

Serhou Guirassy got the late winner having registered five goals for Guinea in two games against Ethiopia in 2025 CAF Africa Cup of Nations qualifying in the international break and has 12 in nine games for club and country this season.

For the first time in 12 years, BVB have not won any of their first three away league matches (D2 L1).

On 10 October Marcel Sabitzer scored for Austria in a 4-0 UEFA Nations League win against Kazakhstan.

The following day Maximilian Beier scored for Germany in a 2-1 2025 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifying win against Bulgaria.

On 14 October Ramy Bensebaini's penalty gave Algeria a 1-0 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying win in Togo.

Karim Adeyemi (thigh) and Julien Duranville (thigh) have both been out since Matchday 2.

Giovanni Reyna has sidelined since suffering a groin injury in training with the United States in early September.

Niklas Süle (illness) and Yan Couto (glutes) both missed Friday's victory.

Julian Ryerson signed a contract extension until 2028 on 3 October.