DORTMUND, GERMANY – FEBRUARY 17: Borussia Dortmund’s Felix Nmeka is challenged by Atalanta’s Marten de Roon during the UEFA Champions League 2025/26 League Knockout Playoff First Leg match between Borussia Dortmund and Atalanta BC on February 17, 2026 in Dortmund, Germany. (Photo by Alex Grimm/Getty Images)
Manager Marten de Loon insists Atalanta have learned from their 2-0 defeat in the Champions League play-off first leg and that they “could hurt” Borussia Dortmund tonight.
The match will kick off at Bergamo’s New Balance Arena at 17:45 GMT (18:45 CET).
You can follow this match and all the build-up and action that happened in Juventus vs Galatasaray on our live blog.
La Dea set themselves the difficult task of overturning the first-leg defeat against Dortmund, which saw goals from Serou Guirassy and Maximilian Beyer.
Since the away goals rule has been abolished, the team must win by two points to force overtime.
De Roon’s advice to Atalanta
“We needed to reduce the space and got caught on some long balls. We need to close the gap, be more aggressive, more intense and above all play the ball better. They have a high defensive line and we can hurt them.” De Roon told Sky Sports Italia.
Atalanta have faced Borussia Dortmund three times so far, but have never won, losing on both trips to Germany in 2018 and drawing 1-1 in the Europa League.
“Dortmund are a very strong team. We expect to come here not only to defend the result, but also to win. We have to push for 90 minutes with the fans. We need a little bit of luck, but it’s mainly about the courage to score here,” added de Roon.
“We know the Bergamo fans very well. I’m sure they will be proud to be here against Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League and will push us for 90 minutes. They will be the 12th player.”th man. “
The atmosphere was lively in Serie A over the weekend as they came from behind to beat Napoli from a 1-0 lead and emerged as 2-1 winners.