Mats Hummels' Pessimistic View on BVB's Champions League Prospects Contradicts Christoph Kramer

Direct qualification for the knockout rounds in the Champions League's league format presents a challenging task. Mats Hummels, a former player for Borussia Dortmund (BVB), does not believe his ex-club will make it into the top eight teams.

During an expert discussion on Prime Video prior to BVB's home game against Villarreal, Christoph Kramer expressed confidence in the Bundesliga team. Kramer's assessment was that Dortmund would directly advance to the round of 16.

Hummels, however, evaluated the situation quite differently from his 2014 World Cup-winning colleague. "I fear BVB is not Top-8. If you say it takes that surprise win, I fear it's more likely to be that one surprise draw you didn't plan for," stated the 37-year-old. "I don't see them in the top eight."

This season, the Champions League is being played in a league format for the third time, featuring 36 teams. Each participant will play against eight opponents of varying strengths. At the end of this phase, the top eight teams in the standings will directly advance to the round of 16.

Teams ranked from ninth to 24th will compete against each other in two-legged ties, with eight winners also progressing to the knockout stage. The bottom twelve teams in the standings will be eliminated.

BVB Has Twice Failed to Finish in the Top 8 in the Standings

In the first two iterations of this format, BVB finished tenth once and seventeenth once, both times entering the playoff round for the round of 16. They managed to advance once; in the past season, they were unfortunately eliminated by Atalanta Bergamo.

Following their opening match against Villarreal, Dortmund's remaining seven CL fixtures will be against FK Bodö/Glimt, Sabah FK, Real Betis, FC Arsenal, Inter Milan, Aston Villa, and AEK Athens.