Good evening and welcome to the live commentary to the
Europa League clash between
Borussia Dortmund and
FC Krasnodar.
After competing in the Champions League over the last few years, Dortmund are once again participating in the Europa League following their seventh-place finish in the Bundesliga last season.
Thomas Tuchel's men were forced to battle through the qualifying rounds of the tournament to reach the group stage, overcoming Wolfsberger AC and Odd to secure their place in Group C. They begin their campaign with a home clash against Russian side FC Krasnodar tonight at Signal Iduna Park.
Krasnodar are competing in the Europa League again this season after they finished third in the Russian Premier League last season.
Oleg Kononov's men defeated Slovan Bratislava and HJK in the qualifying rounds of the tournament to earn their spot in Group C, where they will be looking to improve their performance of last season when they were knocked out at the first hurdle.
The team news has been announced and we'll start with the home side.
BORUSSIA DORTMUND STARTING XI: Weidenfeller; Ginter, Sokratis, Hummels, Schmelzer; Park, Gundogan, Castro, Mkhitaryan, Januzaj, Aubameyang
SUBS: Burki, Hofmann, Stenzel, Kagawa, Piszczek, Ramos, Weigl
FC KRASNODAR: Dykan; Petrov, Granqvist, Sigurdsson, Jedrzejczyk; Strandberg, Ahmedov, Kabore; Mamaev, Smolov, Pereyra
SUBS: Sinitsyn, Gazinski, Ari, Wanderson, Kaleshin, Bystrov, Laborde
Adnan Januzaj makes his first start for Dortmund since his move from Manchester United as he replaces Jonas Hoffman in the starting lineup, while Roman Weidenfeller comes back into the team at the expense of Roman Burki. Joo-Ho Park makes his debut for the club after joining from Mainz, but Sven Bender, Neven Subotic and Marco Reus all miss out through injury.
Krasnodar have made four changes to their side that defeated Dynamo Moscow 4-0 in their last outing. Ragnar Sigurdsson, Charles Kabore,
Pavel Mamaev and Mauricio Pereyra all come into the starting lineup tonight.
The players are making their way out on to the pitch so we should be underway shortly.
We're ready for the off at Signal Iduna Park.
KICKOFF! We're underway in this Europa League clash.
A long ball over the top of the Krasnodar defence finds Mkhitaryan in all sorts of space in front of goal. The midfielder soon discovers the reason why he has so much space is because he is about six feet offside.
Dikan is forced to race off his line to deal with a short backpass from Jedrzejczyk, and he just manages to get to the ball before Aubameyang can pounce.
CHANCE! Januzaj threads a low ball through into the box, but the visitors manage to clear the danger. However, the ball only gets as far as Gundogan on the edge of the box, who strikes at goal, although his effort goes just wide of the target.
YELLOW CARD! Kabore goes into the book for the visitors as he tugs the shirt of Castro to bring him down.
Januzaj lifts the ball into the box from the resulting free kick and his cross somehow evades the heads of Ginter and Papastathopoulos to sail narrowly wide of the post.
GOAL! Dortmund 0-1 Krasnodar (Mamaev)
The visitors take the lead against the run of play as Smolov raids down the left and beats the challenge of Ginter with ease to move into the box. He fires a low ball across the face of goal for the run if Mamaev, who pokes his effort past Weidenfeller at the near post. Clinical from Krasnodar.
The goal from the visitors has knocked Dortmund out of their early rhythm and Krasnodar seem to be first to every challenge at the moment.
Hummels gets away with a loose backpass after he dispossessd Pereyra, but the Uruguayan stopped his chase of defender and missed out on capitalising on the mistake as the German was able to quickly rectify his error.
YELLOW CARD! Jedrzejczyk goes into the book for a poor challenge on Park.
Januzaj gets the chance to raid into the final third and has Aubameyang in support through the middle. The Belgian tries to find his teammate with an incisive through-ball, but Granqvist comes across to make the intervention by sliding across the forward to win the ball.
CHANCE! Park makes a nice turn in the final third to take the ball in stride, but he cannot get a shot away. The midfielder manages to find Schmelzer on the left, but his powerful strike is blocked by Jedrzejczyk.
Krasnodar are doing a fine job of frustrating the home side as they've managed to keep their shape at the back and have looked quite potent in attack down the flanks, with Smolov looking particularly threatening down the left.
The Russian side work the ball well through the midfield as Pereyra releases the run of Smolov in on goal, but the forward is stopped in his tracks by the offside flag. Aubameyang experiences the same fortune at the other end when he tries to latch on to a long ball from Hummels.
Smolov breaks into the box down the left, but goes for a finesse shot rather than power and Ginter manages to make the crucial block before Hummels hammers the ball to safety as green shirts amassed to latch on to the rebound.
CHANCE! Dortmund work the ball down the right and Mkhitaryan spreads a pass to the edge of the area for the advancing run of Castro, who strikes the ball wit his left foot. However, he can only slice his effort wide of the target.
CHANCE! Januzaj finds space in the final third and his low pass makes its way through to Mkhitaryan six yards out, but Dikan races of his line to make the save with his body to deny the midfielder. Great save from the Krasnodar keeper.
Dortmund have rediscovered their passing rhythm and are putting real pressure on the visitors at the moment.
CHANCE! Dikan makes a fine save to deny Aubameyang at the back post after the forward latched on to Januzaj's corner at the back post. The forward tracked the ball all the way from the right and he guided his effort towards the bottom corner where the Krasnodar keeper made the reaction stop.
Slight break in play as Smolov and Papastathopoulos receive treatment for a clash of heads.
There will be two minutes of added time.
GOAL! Dortmund 1-1 Krasnodar (Ginter)
Dortmund get back into the match and the goal has been coming. Park raids down the left flank and whips a pinpoint cross into the box and Ginter attacks the ball to guide his header beyond the reach of Dikan into the net.
HALF-TIME: Borussia Dortmund 1-1 Krasnodar
It's all square at the break at Signal Iduna Park. The visitors took the lead through Pavel Mamaev when he slotted the ball past Roman Weidenfeller in the 12th minute, but Dortmind managed to regain their composure and drew level right on the stroke of half time when
Matthias Ginter, atoned for his error which allowed Krasnodar to score, when he found the net with a headed effort.
Dortmund were behind for a large portion of the first period, but they managed to keep plugging away to notch their equaliser. Tuchel's team looked to be in full flow towards the end of the half and it would not be hard to imagine them going on to claim the victory in the second half.
The players are back out for the second half and the home side will be making a change.
SUBSTITUTION: Shinji Kagawa replaces Schmelzer for the home side.
RESTART! We're back underway at Signal Iduna Park.
CHANCE! An opnening for Dortmund in the first seconds of the half as Januzaj strikes the ball from the edge of the box, but his shot is blocked into the path of Mkhitaryan, who heads at goal only to see his effort go wide of the post.
Stoppage in play as Dikan comes through a crowd of players to punch the ball clear and appears to be winded as he lands in a heap on the ground.
Dortmund are dominating possession in the early stages of the second half, but are yet to test Dikan in the Krasnodar goal.
CHANCE! Gündogan slides a through ball into the path of Mkhitaryan down the left and the midfielder takes a touch to get the ball back on to his right foot. However, he can only curl his effort past the post.
Jedrzejczyk raids the right and has space and time to deliver a cross, but Papastathopoulos makes an important intervention to head the ball clear as he beats Smolov in the air at the near post.
SUBSTITUTIONS: Laborde replaces Pereyra for the visitors, while Weigl comes on for Castro for Dortmund.
CHANCE! Smolov has a great chance to fire his side back into the lead as he latches on to a cross from Laborde at the back post, but he can only put his strike wide of the target.
After a strong start to the half from Dortmund, the visitors are just starting to find their feet again after coping with the early pressure.
CHANCE! Januzaj has a great opportunity to open his Dortmund account as he collects the ball inside the penalty area and turns his man with ease to get on to his right foot, but his powerful strike is well saved by Dikan. A great save from the Krasnodar keeper.
SUBSTITUTION: Kabore comes off for the visitors and Gazinski comes on to replace him.
SUBSTITUTION: Ramos replaces Aubameyang for the home side to alternate their striking options.
YELLOW CARD! Laborde goes into the book for a poor challenge on Januzaj.
Jedrzejczyk brings down Januzaj down the left as he continues to cause problems for the visitors. Gundogan stands over the ball for Dortmund.
CHANCE! Gundogan curls the ball low towards the near post, but Dikan gets down quickly to palm the ball out. The keeper has fortune on his side as his save lands at the feet of a teammate and the visitors manage to clear the danger.
CHANCE! Gundogan slides a through ball into the inside right channel for the run of Ramos, who takes the ball around the keeper, but he cannot find the net from the tight angle as Granqvist was there to clear the ball away.
Ramos and Park combine down the left to send the midfielder through into the inside left channel. Park tries to find Kagawa in the middle, but Sigurdsson is there to stop the ball in its tracks to clear the danger for his side. Dortmund are increasing the pressure on Krasnodar.
YELLOW CARD! Park goes into the book as he pulls back Jedrzejczyk.
CHANCE! Laborde makes a great solo run down the right flank as he fights off two challenges and somehow fires a low ball across the face of goal, but no green shirt is there to seize the opportunity with an open goal gaping.
YELLOW CARD! Gundogan goes into the book now for a foul on Gazinskiy down the left wing.
CHANCE! Ginter links up with Gundogan and raids down the right unopposed. The right-back lifts a dangerous cross towards the near post as Januzaj darts in front of his man, but Dikan comes off his line to palm the ball clear and Park ends the attack by committing a foul.
CHANCE! Ginter continues to threaten down the right as he is almost playing as a right winger now. He latches on to a loose ball inside the area and hits an effort on the half-volley, but his strike is straight into the arms of Dikan.
There will be four minutes of added time.
GOAL! Borussia Dortmund 2-1 Krasnodar (Park)
Dortmund take the lead and with it surely secure the three points. Ginter causes havoc down the right once again and this time his pinpoint delivery into the box is rewarded with a goal, even though Ramos misses the ball at the near post, Park comes in with a diving header at the back post to send his effort past Dikan.
FULL-TIME: Borussia Dortmund 2-1 Krasnodar
Dortmund come from behind to record a 2-1 victory in their opening Europa League group match thanks to goals from Matthias Ginter and
Park Joo-Ho. Krasnodar had taken the lead in the match through Pavel Mamaev in the 12th minute, but they struggled to keep the German side at bay as Thomas Tuchel's men's quality overwhelmed them late in the game, resulting in their narrow. However, there were still positives for the Russian side as they can take a great deal of confidence into their next outings in the competition, while Dortmund will know they can play better than they did this evening.
Thanks for joining our commentary this evening. Until next time, goodbye.