Dortmund v Salzburg background

Former European champions Borussia Dortmund will hope to benefit from home advantage against a Salzburg side that have put together a lengthy unbeaten run in continental competition as the two teams meet in the first leg of the UEFA Europa League round of 16.

• Having crossed over to this competition after finishing third in their UEFA Champions League group with just two points, Dortmund claimed their first European win of the season by defeating Atalanta 3-2 in the home leg of the round of 32 before sealing their passage thanks to Marcel Schmelzer's late equaliser in Italy (1-1).

• UEFA Europa League regulars Salzburg won their group for the fourth time – a competition record – before eliminating Real Sociedad 4-3 on aggregate in the round of 32 and thus making a second appearance in the last 16.

Previous meetings
• The two clubs have never met in European competition.

• Dortmund have a flawless record against Austrian clubs in UEFA matches, winning four out of four. Their path to the 2015/16 UEFA Europa League quarter-finals began with a third qualifying round victory over Wolfsberg, a 1-0 away win preceding a 5-0 victory at home in which Marco Reus opened the scoring.

• Salzburg have lost half of their eight matches against German clubs, winning two. They have yet to claim a victory on German soil but did claim back-to-back second-leg successes away to Eintracht Frankfurt and Karlsruhe en route to the 1993/94 UEFA Cup final, winning a penalty shoot-out in the quarter-final against the former after a 1-0 defeat and eliminating the latter on away goals after a 1-1 draw.

• Salzburg crossed the border last season to play Dortmund's local rivals Schalke in the group stage of the UEFA Europa League and were beaten 3-1 – a result that contributed to their autumn exit. They did, however, win the return fixture 2-0.

Form guide
• Dortmund have won only one of their last ten European matches (D3 L6) and have suffered three defeats in their last five at home.

• The German club registered just two points in their autumn UEFA Champions League campaign but managed to take third place in Group H on goal difference ahead of Cypriot club APOEL. It was the first time in 13 group campaigns in that competition that they failed to register a win.

• Dortmund have scored and conceded in all eight of their European fixtures this season.

• The Schwarzgelben reached the quarter-finals in their most recent UEFA Europa League adventure, in 2015/16, having defeated Tottenham 3-0 at home and 2-1 away in the round of 16.

• Dortmund qualified for this season's UEFA Champions League after finishing third in the 2016/17 Bundesliga. They also won the German Cup last term, defeating Eintracht Frankfurt 2-1 in the Berlin final.

• Salzburg are unbeaten in their last 17 European matches (W10 D7), since a 1-0 defeat at home to Nice on matchday three of last season's UEFA Europa League. That includes a run of nine matches without defeat on the road (W4 D5).

• Having come undefeated through the UEFA Europa League group stage for a record fourth time, this is Salzburg's second appearance in the round of 16. The Austrian club have never gone beyond this round in seven previous UEFA Europa League participations, their only tie at this stage having ended in defeat to Basel in 2013/14 (0-0 away, 1-2 home).

• Salzburg's concession of just one goal in the group stage equalled another UEFA Europa League record, set by Standard Liège in 2011/12, although the seven goals they scored amounted to the lowest number registered by any of this season's 12 group winners.

• Austrian league and cup double winners for the past four seasons, and 1994 UEFA Cup runners-up, Salzburg missed the cut in last year's UEFA Europa League group stage – after succeeding in their previous three attempts.

Links and trivia
• Dortmund are one of three former UEFA Champions League winners remaining in the UEFA Europa League field, Marseille and Milan being the others.

• Salzburg are the only reigning domestic champions left in the competition. Six others were eliminated in the round of 32 – Astana, Celtic, FC København, Ludogorets, Partizan and Spartak Moskva.

• This is the Austrian club's 15th European match in 2017/18 – more than any other team competing in the UEFA Europa League round of 16. Defender Andreas Ulmer has been on the field for every minute of a campaign that started in the second qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League, with striker Munas Dabbur also starting all 14 matches.

• Salzburg are bidding to make Austria the 14th nation represented in the UEFA Europa League quarter-finals. No other Austrian club has made it as far as the round of 16.

• Dortmund were one of only three clubs – alongside French duo Lyon and Marseille – to come through their round of 16 tie after playing the first leg at home.

• Salzburg won last season's UEFA Youth League, beating Benfica in the final under Marco Rose – now in charge of the senior side.

• André Schürrle was a Mainz team-mate of Rose between 2009 and 2011.

• Ömer Toprak and André Ramalho played together at Bayer Leverkusen in 2015/16.

• Shinji Kagawa and Takumi Minamino played two games together for Japan in autumn 2015.

• Dortmund's Austrian coach Peter Stöger played against Salzburg for several teams in his homeland, scoring five goals in 42 appearances with the record W18 D9 L15. His coaching record against them, with Austria Wien and Wiener Neustadt, is W1 D3 L6.

• Stöger was in charge of Köln in this season's UEFA Europa League group stage, leaving before matchday six.

• Dortmund trio Reus, Schürrle and Mario Götze have all scored international goals for Germany against Austria.

• Jérôme Onguéné is currently on loan to Salzburg from German Bundesliga club VfB Stuttgart.

• This season Salzburg became the first club to win their UEFA Europa League group on four occasions. Eleven others have achieved the feat three times.

• This is Salzburg's 55th UEFA Europa League match, group stage to final; only Spanish clubs Villarreal (62) and Athletic Club (59) have played more.

• Dortmund's Julian Weigl and Salzburg’s Duje Ćaleta-Car return from a one-match suspension.

• Suspended for next game if booked: Sokratis Papastathopoulos (Dortmund); Hwang Hee-Chan, Munas Dabbur, Xaver Schlager (Salzburg).

The coaches
• Peter Stöger was appointed to replace Peter Bosz as Dortmund coach on 10 December 2017 – a week after he was dismissed by Köln, where he had been in charge for four and a half years. A four-time league champion as a player in his native Austria, with 65 international caps, he moved to Germany after steering Austria Wien to the 2012/13 title.

• Previously Salzburg's youth team boss, Marco Rose stepped up to the senior helm after predecessor Óscar García left in June, having led the club to victory in the 2016/17 UEFA Youth League. A defender with home-town club Leipzig, Hannover and Mainz, he has been on Salzburg's coaching staff since 2013.