Niko Kovac believes the key to Borussia Dortmund beating Athletic Bilbao in the Champions League will be their ability to dictate Wednesday's game.

Dortmund were held to a thrilling 4-4 draw by Juventus in their Champions League opener, giving up their lead three times in the match as well as conceding two stoppage-time goals.

The Black and Yellow have impressed this season, going unbeaten in 2025-26 so far, with all four of their wins coming with clean sheets.

Kovac has never lost a Champions League game in the group/league phase (10 games – W7 D3), with those 10 matches seeing an average of 4.5 goals scored per outing.

Dortmund are in the middle of the table after the first matchday, and Kovac has urged his team to show more control in their first home game in the Champions League.

"We have to be the team to dictate the game so that we can impose our style on the opponent," Kovac said in his pre-match press conference.

"We've done very well [defensively]. The team are determined to defend better. Everyone is determined – and that's how it has to be."

Dortmund have also received a boost ahead of their match against Athletic, who lost their Champions League opener 2-0 at home to Arsenal.

Kovac confirmed that Serhou Guirassy, who has been involved in 18 Champions League goals (13 goals, five assists) since the start of last season, will be available to be in the squad.

His last outing at Signal Iduna Park saw him score a hat-trick against Barcelona in a 3-1 win in May.

Dortmund have only lost three of their 16 home games against Spanish teams in the Champions League (W7 D6), while only Real Madrid have managed to beat them by more than a single goal (3-1 in 2017-18).

Another player who will be available to face Athletic is Nico Schlotterbeck, who has impressed in recent matches since returning from injury.

The defender's future is currently up in the air, but he hinted that talks over a new contract will soon start now that he is back on the pitch.

"The appreciation on both sides [mine and the club's] is very high. But it won't be so early that I extend my contract," he said.

"We'll have talks now. I'll sit down with Sebastian Kehl, together we'll make a plan, and then we'll see what comes of it.

"I feel comfortable [at Dortmund], but we put the talks on hold during the injury because I wanted to focus on myself first."