Lille, France: Borussia Dortmund may be relying on continued progress in the Champions League to keep their season alive, but they head to France for the return leg of their last-16 tie against Lille with work to do after a 1-1 draw last week.

Karim Adeyemi´s first-half goal had given Dortmund the lead at home in the first leg, only for Hakon Haraldsson to fire in the equaliser which perhaps gives Lille the edge as the teams meet again at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy.

Dortmund are enduring a poor domestic campaign and a 1-0 home defeat against Augsburg at the weekend left them languishing in 10th place in the Bundesliga, seven points adrift of the top four and four points away from any European qualifying spot for next season.

There had been encouraging signs after Niko Kovac was appointed at the end of January to replace the sacked Nuri Sahin, with the new coach leading Dortmund past Portuguese champions Sporting in the play-off round. But they have lost three of their last five matches in the Bundesliga, and the Augsburg setback was hardly ideal preparation for the visit to northern France.

Lille have already beaten Real Madrid at home and put six goals past Feyenoord there as they exceeded expectations in the league phase. The Ligue 1 side are now dreaming of reaching the quarter-finals of Europe´s elite club competition for the first time. For Dortmund, meanwhile, an exit at this stage would be a huge backwards step after last year´s run to the final, which they lost to Madrid at Wembley. “I don´t want to paint a bleak picture because of this match,” Kovac said immediately following the loss to Augsburg.

“We played well in the previous two Bundesliga games and in the first half against Lille, so that gives me hope. “A coach needs to try to find positives, even in defeat,” added Kovac, who returns to France for the first time since being sacked by Monaco in early 2022.