Syndicated reporting provided by Stats Perform and reviewed by the SoccerNews editorial team.
Borussia Dortmund’s Champions League fixture against Sabah could be the perfect opportunity to reignite their recently misfiring attack, so says Niko Kovac.
Dortmund return to Champions League action on Tuesday when they make the trip to Baki Olimpiya Stadionu to face the Azerbaijani minnows, who made history last time out.
In what was just their second game in major European competition, Sabah recorded their first win on the European stage when they beat Slavia Praha 2-0 on home soil.
And they may fancy their chances against a Dortmund side that have struggled since returning from the international break, with their problems coming in the final third.
They have scored just two goals in their last three matches across all competitions, while they have failed to find the back of the net in back-to-back games for the first time since February 2025, after losing 1-0 to Bodo/Glimt and playing out a goalless draw with Union Berlin last week.
Kovac’s side registered an expected goals (xG) total of just 1.09 from their 10 shots against Union, and only two of those forced Frederik Ronnow into making a save.
Dortmund have also had fewer than 10 shots in five of their last six Champions League matches (83%). In their first 12 games in the competition under Kovac, they had fewer than 10 shots on just two occasions (17%), averaging 14.1 attempts per game.
“We need to play much more accurately, much more precisely, and much more automatically in the final third,” Kovac told reporters of his team’s attack.
“Union defended well, but we also didn’t play the way I would have liked, because it would have been possible to attack behind the opponent’s defence to ultimately break through their line.
“We need to get back to doing that quickly, because you can only win games by scoring goals.”
We go again, together. https://t.co/2Ksr538cOf
— Borussia Dortmund (@BlackYellow) October 18, 2026
This will be just the second European Cup or Champions League game between teams from Azerbaijan and Germany, following Qarabag’s 3-2 win over Eintracht Frankfurt in January earlier this year, though Dortmund have a good record against teams from that part of the world.
BVB have won all four of their matches against Azerbaijani opponents in European competitions (including qualifiers), beating Qarabag twice in Europa League qualifying in 2010-11 and Qabala twice in the Europa League group stage in 2015-16.
They have, however, lost four of their last six Champions League matches (W2), as many defeats as they had in their previous 17 matches in the competition combined (four).
And after going without a win in their last three games in all competitions, Dortmund’s Sporting Director Lars Ricken said things must improve quickly if they are to maintain the standards they set during the early parts of the campaign.
“We can see that we’re going through a somewhat difficult phase right now. Going three games in a row without a win isn’t normal for Borussia Dortmund,” Ricken conceded.
“But we have to remind ourselves that we established an excellent position for ourselves early in the season, in the Bundesliga, the DFB-Pokal and the Champions League.
“That’s still the case. Now it’s about showing our willingness to fight and, in the truest sense of the word, to defend that position.
“But of course, we also want to take the initiative more often on offence again, to be aggressive and determined, create scoring chances, score goals, and regain that hunger to win games at all costs.
“When you have a challenge like this in the Champions League, you can fly to Baku with enthusiasm and anticipation. That should be our mindset now.”
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