For the Lovers
Key triumphs and major victories
Champions League winners 1997: The greatest triumph came under coach Ottmar Hitzfeld in 1997. On May 28, 1997, Borussia Dortmund beat Juventus Turin 3-1 (2-0) in the final at Munich's Olympiastadion to become the first German Champions League winners. Karl-Heinz Riedle scored twice and Lars Ricken sealed victory with a legendary chip.
The Double 2011/12: In the Bundesliga, the 2011/12 season — yielding the first "Double" in club history — represents the greatest domestic achievement. Under Jürgen Klopp, Borussia Dortmund defended the German championship in a long-distance duel with Bayern München and added the DFB-Pokal with a 5-2 demolition of Bayern in the Berlin final.
Robert Lewandowski: His enormous potential became apparent in 2011/12, when a BVB striker who had spent his first year mainly on the bench exploded into the most lethal goalscorer in German football. The Polish international scored 22 Bundesliga goals and 10 in the Champions League, terrorising defences with a combination of clinical finishing, intelligent movement and physical presence that defied his relatively slight frame. His four goals against Real Madrid in the 2013 Champions League semi-final — arguably the single greatest individual performance in the competition’s history — made him a global sensation.
That he left for Bayern Munich in 2014 on a free transfer, having run down his contract, remains one of the most painful departures in Dortmund’s modern history.
Comeback 2001/02: The greatest title charge from behind came under coach Matthias Sammer in 2001/02. In the final three matchdays of the season, BVB overhauled Bayer Leverkusen in one of the most dramatic title races in Bundesliga history. Leverkusen, who had led for months and seemed destined for the treble, suffered a catastrophic collapse — losing the league, the DFB-Pokal final, and the Champions League final in the space of three weeks. Dortmund’s nerve held where Leverkusen’s cracked. The crucial 2-1 victory over Werder Bremen on the final day, secured by a Jan Koller goal and Jens Lehmann’s heroics in goal, sent the Westfalenstadion into raptures.
It was Sammer’s vindication and Leverkusen’s eternal nightmare — "Vizekusen" was born that day, and the wound has never healed.
BVB as kingmakers: Schalke champions in Dortmund? "That can’t happen!" — not just the fans’ sentiment but the team’s too. On the final matchday of the 2006/07 season, Schalke needed BVB to lose against a direct rival in order to claim the championship. Dortmund, with nothing to play for in the table, found something far more powerful: Revierderby pride. The team delivered a performance fuelled by pure spite, ensuring that Schalke’s title dream died in the Westfalenstadion. It remains one of the sweetest non-victories in BVB history — proof that in the Ruhr, denying your neighbour success can feel as good as achieving your own.
The "kindergarten" ambushes Bayern: "Championship-worthy lightning in Munich," was how the publisher DIE WERKSTATT described this unforgettable footballing evening of February 26, 2011. For the first time in nearly 20 years, Borussia won at Bayern — Klopp's young side announcing themselves as genuine title contenders.
11-1 against Bielefeld: In the 1982/83 season, Borussia Dortmund scored ten goals in one half during their record 11-1 victory over Arminia Bielefeld on November 3, 1982. After a modest 1-0 at half-time, the floodgates opened in a manner the Bundesliga has never seen since. Manfred Burgsmüller, the ageless goal machine from Essen, scored five to cement his Dortmund legend. The Westfalenstadion crowd watched in disbelief as Bielefeld’s defence simply ceased to function. Burgsmüller would go on to score 135 Bundesliga goals for BVB, a club record that stood for decades.
His career trajectory was itself remarkable: he arrived at an age when most strikers contemplate retirement and proceeded to outperform players ten years his junior. The 11-1 remains Dortmund’s biggest ever Bundesliga win and one of the most extraordinary match results in the competition’s history.
Frequently Asked Questions
When did BVB win the Champions League?
Borussia Dortmund won the Champions League in 1997, beating Juventus 3-1 in the final with goals from Karl-Heinz Riedle (2) and Lars Ricken.