Borussia Dortmund were within 60 seconds of becoming European champions last season, before Arjen Robben sneaked in a gut-wrenching late winner for German rivals Bayern Munich.
Their Champions League adventure took in scalps, such as, Real Madrid (twice), Ajax, Manchester City and a memorable turnaround against Malaga.
It’s the sort of script that couldn’t be written for Dortmund, given their resilient comeback from financial oblivion in 2005 to one of the finest sides on the continent.
But head coach Jurgen Klopp has admitted he would love to see his side’s efforts make the big screen, comparing their exploits to classic 80s baseball comedy ‘Major League – a movie starring Charlie Sheen that sees a group of misfits take the Cleveland Indians to the World Series.
“It would have been crazy if we had won the Champions League last season.” Klopp told UEFA.com. “I think we would have lost our minds thinking about how it could be possible.
“Only a few lads thought they would become Bundesliga players, and five years later they managed to become domestic champions twice and win the German Cup once.
“And to have then become Champions League winners, that would have been an incredible story – I would have loved to watch that story if it was a movie.
“A story like, I don't know, the Cleveland Indians, so the Dortmund Indians. But it really would have been very crazy.
“So that is why everything is OK, and still very special. But it's not over yet – there is still a lot of time for us to win even more.”
Borussia Dortmund top the German Bundesliga after four matches with a 100% record and have been drawn in the Champions League with Napoli, Arsenal and Marseille for the group stages.
The clubs from the Ruhrpott have recovered from losing Mario Gotze to Bayern Munich in the summer and the uncertainty over Robert Lewandowski’s future with BVB.
Yet with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Henrikh Mkhitaryan coming in – and impressing early in the Bundesliga with six goals between them – Dortmund could be one of the clubs at the forefront of the tournament.
Klopp added: “We haven't reached our peak in terms of performance yet, but if we look at our results [last season] then we almost achieved it.
“I don't think you should compare one team with another similar team, because we are just not the same team. We still don't have a clue how well the team can play, we still have to show that.
“This is the Champions League, the quality of the other teams is just too high. So we want to try to develop and at some point in the season play the best football this team can play.
“I still can't tell what it will look like, but we will learn more about it day by day, and hopefully one day we can say: that is what it should look like.”
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