Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
Liverpool vs Manchester United may have got the billing as the biggest tie of this Europa League Round of 16 but it’s fair to say that the clash between Borussia Dortmund and Tottenham this Evening won’t be too far behind
Both clubs are currently second in their respective leagues and they both find themselves 5 points behind the league leaders, not only will they be aiming to play in Europe’s premier competition next season but they will still very much consider themselves to be in a shout with a domestic title at the end of the season
Dortmund miss their opportunity to cut the gap at the top on Saturday as they draw 0-0 with Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga top of the table clash. Had they won they would have been able to ramp the pressure on Pep Guardiola’s Bayern even further but as it stands they still have some work to do if they are going to close down that gap
It seems there are many similarities between the two clubs as Tottenham also drew on Saturday and missed an opportunity of their own, that was to go top of the Premier League for a couple of hours at least. Their 2-2 draw with Arsenal will no doubt feel like two points dropped considering they had a goal and a man advantage at one point but in the end were hit by an Alexis Sanchez sucker punch. A goal which keeps Arsenal just about in the title race.
With both clubs still having a say in their respective title races the focus now shifts to potential European honours. For both sides winning the Europa League is a very real possibility but one of these sides road to Basle will come to an end by next Thursday Evening, For Tottenham it also gives them a chance to test themselves against a real Champions League calibre side in potential preparation for next season.
It promises to be a real entertaining encounter and it will be a measure of how far Tottenham have come in such a short space of time. In the previous round against Fiorentina they went into the 2nd leg level albeit with the away goal advantage in what seemed to still be a pretty open tie but they strolled past the Viola at White Hart Lane with a 3-0 win and a real team performance. They would be looking for something similar in this Evening’s encounter to set them up nicely for the 2nd leg.
But you would expect Tottenham’s backline to be in for a busy evening with Dortmund scoring the joint highest amount of Bundesliga goals this season with 58. The obvious dangerman will be Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang but Thomas Teuchel’s side are capable of getting goals from all over the park.
But the same can be said about Tottenham, much has been written about Tottenham only have one striker but they’ve incredibly well considering their perceived lack of forward resources this season. The goalscoring load has been shared throughout the squad and although Harry Kane is still the main focus there hasn’t been an over reliance either.
That said Harry Kane is looking a bit tired as of late, but you wouldn’t have suggested that after his wonder goal on Saturday Afternoon. A simply stunning finish and great combination play with Dele Alli who made the goal. Kane still had work to do but after he looking up he produced a world class finish past David Ospina. A goal worthy of winning just about any game but Kane and Tottenham will no doubt have regrets about not putting Arsenal to the sword and killing off their title hopes.
There are so many similarities between these two sides that you get the feeling that it could be pretty hard to split the two sides. Dortmund will have the slight advantage what with being at home but won’t necessarily phase Mauricio Pochettino’s side. If Tottenham can at least get an away goal then it will set up the 2nd leg next Thursday very nicely. I think Dortmund may just edge the first leg but Tottenham certainly won’t be out of the tie.
