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Dortmund’s recent woes continued today as they lost 3-2 to Madrid at the Bernabeu.
Peter Bosz’s team showed fight to come back and tie the game, but were defeated for the fourth time in the Champions League group stage. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored both goals for BVB.
⏹ Das war‘s. Es hat nicht gereicht. Dennoch: Der BVB spielt 2018 in der @EuropaLeague. #rmabvb 3-2 FT pic.twitter.com/MYAxIPyGb5
— Borussia Dortmund (@BVB) December 6, 2017
But because of APOEL’s 3-0 loss to Tottenham, Dortmund have still managed to qualify for the knockout stage of the Europa League. They became the first team to ever qualify for the EL with only two points accumulated in the group stage. In other words; they were awful, but APOEL were slightly more awful.
The Black and Yellows will be unseeded in the draw for the Europa League round of 32. That means they will either draw a group winner, or one of the four best clubs that has dropped down from the Champions League.
A return to form in the Bundesliga is certainly the priority, but Dortmund shouldn’t forget that the winner of the Europa League gets a spot in next years Champions League. It’s best not to completely ignore the competition. Instead, give it a fair go.