Dortmund face Azerbaijani club Gabala in the Europa League on Thursday, but are likely to leave the Armenian midfielder in Germany because of an ongoing conflict over the Nagorno-Karabakh region between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

The region, along with some adjacent Azerbaijani territory, has been under the occupation of Armenian troops since a 1994 ceasefire ended a six-year war.

Violence has nevertheless broken out sporadically since.

"Mkhitaryan will most likely not be on board our flight to Baku," Dortmund CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke told German tabloid Bild earlier this week.

However, Borussia Dortmund have not yet made a final decision on whether they will exclude the in-form midfielder from the trip, a club spokesperson told ESPN FC.

The five-time Armenian footballer of the year has visited the occupied region several times and it remains unclear whether he will be granted a visa to enter Azerbaijan.