For the Lovers — Borussia Dortmund

Champions League winners 1997: the greatest success in

Champions League winners 1997: the greatest success in club history came under coach Ottmar Hitzfeld in 1997.

club history came under coach Ottmar Hitzfeld in 1997. On May 28, 1997 Borussia Dortmund beat Juventus 3:1 in the final at Munich's Olympic Stadium to become the first German winners of the Champions League. Karl-Heinz Air Riedle scored twice and academy product Lars Ricken added the third against the favored Bianconeri.

The double of 2011/12: in Bundesliga terms, the

The double of 2011/12: in Bundesliga terms, the club's greatest success was the 2011/12 season, when BVB won the first domestic double in club history.

club's greatest success was the 2011/12 season, when BVB won the first domestic double in club history. Under Juergen Klopp, Dortmund retained the league title in a long-distance duel with Bayern Munich and set a new Bundesliga record with 81 points. With 44 points they were also the best home side in the league, and with 37 points the best away side as well.

Robert Lewandowski: in 2011/12 a BVB striker first

Robert Lewandowski: in 2011/12 a BVB striker first hinted at his enormous potential after spending his first year mostly as backup to first-choice Lucas Barrios.

hinted at his enormous potential after spending his first year mostly as backup to first-choice Lucas Barrios. Robert Lewandowski scored a remarkable 22 goals in 34 league matches. In the DFB Cup final on May 12, 2012 he humiliated Bayern almost on his own, scoring a hat trick in a 5:2 win.

Mats Hummels and Shinji Kagawa also scored. Kagawa was watched in Berlin by Sir Alex Ferguson and moved to Manchester United that summer.

The comeback of 2001/02: Borussia's greatest championship co...

The comeback of 2001/02: Borussia's greatest championship comeback came under Matthias Sammer in 2001/02.

The comeback of 2001/02: Borussia's greatest championship comeback came under Matthias Sammer in 2001/02. In the last three matches against Cologne, in Hamburg, and against Werder Bremen, Dortmund made up five points on leaders Bayer Leverkusen and still snatched the title on the final day of a wild season. The lead had changed hands repeatedly among Kaiserslautern, Bayern, BVB and Leverkusen. Dortmund were back on top on Matchday 20, Leverkusen retook first place by beating BVB 4:0 on Matchday 24, but then wasted match point two rounds from the end.

A foul penalty taken by Bayer goalkeeper Hans-Joerg Butt and saved by Werder keeper Frank Rost prevented an early title party. A week later Bayer lost again in Nuremberg and Dortmund moved into first with a win in Hamburg, never to surrender it. As BVB manager Michael Meier put it, in the end it is always the hunter, not the hunted, who wins.

BVB as kingmakers: Schalke champions in Dortmund? Dat

BVB as kingmakers: Schalke champions in Dortmund?

darf nich sein - that cannot be allowed. Not only the fans thought so, but the Dortmund team did too in 2006/07, a season in which they had hardly spoiled their own supporters and only mathematically secured survival on Matchday 32. Their bonus was, from Dortmund's point of view, the sweetest derby win of all.

On May 12, 2007 goals by Alexander Frei and Ebi Smolarek ripped Schalke's title dream apart in a 2:0 win. Since Stuttgart won in neighboring Bochum, it was the Swabians who went top and ultimately became champions.

The kindergarten ambushes Bayern: masterful flashes of light...

The kindergarten ambushes Bayern: masterful flashes of lightning in Munich, as one Dortmund photo book put it when recalling February 26, 2011.

The kindergarten ambushes Bayern: masterful flashes of lightning in Munich, as one Dortmund photo book put it when recalling February 26, 2011. For the first time in nearly twenty years Borussia won away at Bayern Munich and took a giant step toward the league title. Goals by Lucas Barrios, Nuri Sahin and Mats Hummels sealed Dortmund's first win in Munich since 1991. Klopp gushed afterward that the last time Dortmund had won there, most of his players had still been breastfed.

11:1 against Bielefeld: on November 6, 1982 Borussia

11:1 against Bielefeld: on November 6, 1982 Borussia Dortmund scored ten goals in one half in their record 11:1 win over Arminia Bielefeld.

Dortmund scored ten goals in one half in their record 11:1 win over Arminia Bielefeld. It was still only 1:1 at half-time, after goals from Frank Pagelsdorf for the visitors and Manfred Burgsmueller for BVB. After the break the avalanche began immediately.

Burgsmueller and Ruediger Abramczik struck in quick succession, and more goals from Burgsmueller, Bernd Klotz, Marcel Raducanu and Lothar Huber made it the biggest Bundesliga victory in club history and a record for one half. Curiously, former BVB coach Horst Koeppel took home the keg of beer intended for the winner of the journalists' score-prediction game, because nobody had predicted 11:1 and the reporters thought he was the man with the most reason to get drunk.