Sports Mole looks at who Borussia Dortmund could face in the Europa League playoff round following their elimination from the Champions League.

Some of Europe's biggest names will grace the Europa League in the New Year after the likes of Borussia Dortmund, Barcelona, RB Leipzig and Atalanta BC all dropped into the tournament from the Champions League.

The third-placed teams in the group stages of Europe's premier club competition face a new fate this year too, with the Europa League having a playoff round in place of the usual round of 32.

Dortmund and the rest will enter the competition as unseeded teams and will be drawn against one of the teams that finished as runners-up in their Europa League group, with a place in the last 16 on the line.

While the likes of Erling Braut Haaland, Marco Reus and Jude Bellingham will have been desperate to still be playing Champions League football in the second half of 2021-22, they will now set their sights on lifting this trophy for the very first time.

The path there may not be straightforward, though, and Marco Rose's side could be drawn against any of the teams that finished second in their Europa League group, as none of them are fellow Bundesliga outfits.

Worryingly for the Germans, they do not boast a winning record against any of their prospective opponents either.

Rangers are the team they are most familiar with, having played them eight times in the past, although Dortmund have only won one of those contests, drawing four and losing three.

Dortmund also have a losing record against Lazio, winning once and being beaten twice in their four previous meetings, while against both Napoli and Olympiacos they have won one and lost one.

However, there are four teams Dortmund could be drawn against that they have never faced before, including La Liga duo Real Betis and Real Sociedad.

Portuguese outfit Braga and Croatian side Dinamo Zagreb are also possible opponents for Rose's men, who will be among the favourites to go all the way in the competition.

The draw will take place in Nyon on Monday at 12pm GMT - you can find out everything you need to know about the new Europa League playoff round and the draw by clicking here. body check tags ::

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