My day started as early as 4 a.m. when I woke up to catch a flight to Cologne from Stansted Airport. The next morning I had to be in Berlin and work until the evening. So I still wasn’t convinced that my plan to stop in Dortmund in the meantime was a wise idea… but here I was. I arrived at the mostly empty airport of Cologne and took a train to the central station. I got my first match-day taste quite early on when I saw a mob of Sparta Prague fans walking through the station, chanting ahead of their game against Bayer Leverkusen. Nice, I thought. I got a glimpse of the absolutely impressive Cologne Cathedral before catching the first train to Dortmund. Everyone had told me how much nicer Cologne is compared to Dortmund, but I was on a mission. I was going to watch a game at the Westfalenstadion for the first time, a Champions League one.

I fell asleep in my seat before finally arriving. I left my bags in a locker and headed to the National Football Museum (third photo), which is conveniently located just next to Dortmund’s central train station. I spent a good amount of time there before heading to Borussia's fan shop (second photo), just next door, to buy a scarf. The whole city was dressed in yellow and black, and I figured I had to fit in somehow. I had zero energy left and still plenty of time to kill, so I decided to crash at a kebab shop, passing the time and contemplating life. After gathering some basic energy and managing to stay awake, I started heading to the stadium by foot, as that was my only chance to see some of the city.

I got there early, but there were already thousands of people in the surroundings, drinking beer and eating. I grabbed a beer to get in the mood while staring at the Rote Erde Stadion behind a fence, Dortmund’s old home turf that still stands next to the Westfalenstadion. I got through stadium ticket and security control surprisingly quickly and climbed a ton of stairs before reaching my seat.

I had finally made it! After such a long day, I almost felt emotional seeing the famous Yellow Wall up close. As much as I love non-league football, there will always be something very special about visiting a big stadium you’ve seen on TV so many times before. It feels like making your younger self proud. Probably it’s that, paired with my sleep deprivation, that made the whole 90 minutes feel like a dream. The game itself wasn’t of utmost importance, but it was still quite eventful, with four goals scored. The fans, as expected, gave a great performance and at times, when the whole South Stand mobilised, the atmosphere was electric to say the least. The final whistle blew, unfortunately, and I had to rush back to the station to catch the last night coach to Berlin. It was a stress-induced, fast-paced, 40-minute walk under the rain, but ultimately it was all worth it.