German giants Borussia Dortmund have been paired up with Odds Ballklub in the UEFA Europa League play-off round following Friday morning's draw.
The Westphalians advanced into the next round yesterday evening, booking their place in the hat with a 5-0 win over Wolfsberger AC to go with their narrow 0-1 victory in Austria - securing a handsome 6-0 aggregate triumph.
Difficult task at hand
Odds secured a play-off birth after turning around a 2-1 first leg deficit to Swedish side Elfsborg, beating them 2-0 on Thursday evening and 3-2 on aggregate. One familiar face for the BVB fans will be that of former Greuther Fürth, Eintracht Frankfurt, Kickers Offenbach and 1. FC Kaiserslautern forward Olivier Occéan.
The Norwegians currently sit fifth in the Eliteserien and have won four of their last five games, but the omens are with BVB for this encounter. They have twice travelled to Norway twice before, and avoided defeat on both occasions - beating Lys 4-2 and drawing 2-2 with Rosenborg.
Have BVB came away with a good draw?
Dortmund could have faced off against HJK Helsinki, Astra Girugiu, FC Midtjylland, FC Thun and Gabala FK. Thomas Tuchel will be particularly pleased that his side have avoided the long trip to Azerbaijan and a tough test against number-crunching Midtjyalland, although Odds will still prove to be a difficult two-leg tie for the new BVB boss.
Given their poor form following European outings last season, which normally resulted in them playing a tough opponent in the Bundesliga, this draw is perhaps more kind. They travel to the newly promoted FC Ingolstadt 04 following the first leg, while the match to follow their second clash with Odds will see them welcome Hertha BSC to the Westfalenstadion.
The ties will be played on Thursday 20th and 27th August, with BVB traveling to Skagerak Arena first before playing the return game in Germany.