German giants Borussia Dortmund host Portuguese giants FC Porto in their Round-of-32 first-leg encounter of the UEFA Europa League 2015-16 at the Signal Iduna Park, Thursday.
Dortmund are currently having a good run in the Bundesliga, as they are undefeated in their previous four fixtures. Their last league game turned out to be a 1-0 victory against Hannover, with Henrikh Mkhitaryan scoring the only goal of the game.
The Ruhr giants finished second in their group in the Europa League group stages after recording three wins and two losses. With the Round of 32 of the competition beginning Thursday, the teams will be expected to put up a good fight to reach the next round.
Dortmund, with all their Champions League experience over the years, can be billed as a title contender for the UEFA Europa League 2015-16.
However, Dortmund coach Thomas Tuchel cannot take the Portuguese side lightly.
FC Porto, currently third in their domestic league, stood third in their Champions League 2015-16 group, and hence dropped down to the Europa League. In a group comprising Chelsea, Dynamo Kiev and Maccabi Tel Aviv, Porto won three of their six group games but stil couldn't progress further in the Champions League.
Therefore, it will be a challenge for the two-time Champions League and two-time Europa League winners to take something from the Europa League this season.
Borussia Dortmund, meanwhile, have never won the Europa League.
Where to watch live
Borussia Dortmund vs Porto is scheduled to kick-off at the Signal Iduna Park at 7 p.m. CET (11:30 p.m. IST, 6 p.m. GMT, 1 p.m. ET) on Feb. 18.
Viewers in India can catch the game on Ten HD, while the streaming option of the game is also available on tensports.com.
UK viewers can catch the game on BT Sport Extra and BT Sport Showcase, while the online live stream option is on BT Sport Live. The BT Sport app will also show the match Live.
US viewers can catch the game on ESPN 3 USA and ESPN Deportes+. The option of live streaming is also available on FoxSoccer2Go and Watch ESPN. The radio commentary is available on ESPN Deportes.
People in Germany can tune into Sky Sport 1/HD and Sky Sport 2/HD. The live streaming is also available on Sky Go Deutschland.
Sport TV 1 remains the destination for viewers in Portugal.
People in Spain can stream the game live on beIN Sports Connect Espana.
