Champions League: BVB and Sevilla on opposite trajectories

Three weeks is a long time in football.

Before their Champions League last-16 first leg against Borussia Dortmund on February 17, Sevilla were riding the crest of a wave with nine straight wins and seven clean sheets in a row. Since then, they've lost three of their last four games and fallen out of the La Liga title race.

Dortmund, meanwhile, appear to have turned a corner. Marco Rose has been announced as their next coach and, with the exception of last weekend's 4-2 defeat in Munich, the team are on the rise again. The turning point for both teams was that fraught night in Andalusia.

But not so fast. Dortmund have failed to get beyond the last-16 of the Champions League since 2017, when they lost to Monaco under the shadow of the terrorist attack on their team bus. Last season, they beat Paris Saint-Germain 2-1 in the first leg, only to let it slip in the second.

Interim Dortmund coach Edin Terzic is keen to avoid a repeat and knows that a big performance is needed at the Westfalenstadion: "It will not be an easy task. We always knew we needed two good games," Terzic said. "Against PSG last season, we experienced first-hand that one good performance is not enough. Sevilla will show a different face and play even better."

Haaland fit, Sancho out

For a team that still sit outside of the Bundesliga's coveted top four, the Champions League continues to liberate Borussia Dortmund. After topping Group F, they produced one of their best performances of the season in Seville – but they will have to do it this time without Jadon Sancho, who could be sidelined for the next month.

The England forward missed the Klassiker defeat on Saturday, and his absence will be felt given his return to form of late. Raphael Guerreiro and Giovanni Reyna are also doubts, but Terzic is expecting to have Haaland in his ranks after he limped off in the second half in Munich.

"He's training and we expect him to be there," Terzic said of his Norwegian hitman. "He always gives 100 percent. We'd rather do without him for a few minutes in the game than for weeks."

Regardless of the personnel in Terzic's starting XI on Tuesday, captain Marco Reus has promised a fighting Dortmund performance.

"Making it through would make us proud because we haven't done it for a few years. That's the incentive for everyone," he said. "The fact that Sevilla need to attack won't change our approach. We want to perform in the same way as in Seville and be dangerous with a healthy aggression."

Much-needed windfall

Dortmund are of course keen to be considered among Europe's top eight teams once again, but the financial rewards of progress would be welcome given that the club made a €26.3 million ($28m) loss in the first six months of last year.

Victory would bring in an additional €10.5 million in prize money – a timely boost to a club who depend on matchday revenue more than most. And progress in the Champions League, at a time when a top four finish is in doubt, might also keep stars such as Haaland committed to the Dortmund project beyond the end of the season, even if Sancho's departure seems likely either way.

As sporting director Michael Zorc told kicker on Sunday: "It's a huge opportunity for us, both sportingly and economically."