Borussia Dortmund vs Tottenham preview

Lucien Favre's side are hoping to mount an astonishing Champions League comeback after losing the first leg 3-0 to Spurs at Wembley

Borussia Dortmund will try to complete a comeback for the ages when they host Tottenham at Signal Iduna Park in the second leg of their Champions League last-16 encounter.

Goals from Son Heung-min, Jan Vertonghen and Fernando Llorente have the Premier League side 3-0 up and cruising towards the quarter-finals, with only seven percent of teams who have lost by that scoreline in an away first leg progressing since 1980-81.

Can BVB beat the odds and upset a Spurs outfit who are winless in their last three.

Squads & Team News

Lukasz Piszczek remains on the sidelines due to a heel problem that has kept him out for close to a month.

Dortmund have no other injury concerns, while Julian Weigl will be suspended for the next game if Dortmund progress.

Jadon Sancho is set to start on the right wing while Marco Reus, who missed the first leg, is in the squad along with Paco Alcacer.

Possible Dortmund starting XI: Burki; Wolf, Akanji, Zagadou, Diallo; Witsel, Delaney; Sancho, Reus, Guerreiro; Gotze.

Tottenham have been boosted by Dele Alli’s return to training, although the midfielder will not be fit enough to feature in Germany.

Right-back Kieran Trippier is injured, so Serge Aurier is set to patrol the flank.

Harry Winks and Eric Dier are in the squad, despite a hip complaint and tonsillitis respectively, and neither is expected to feature.

Toby Alderweireld, Erik Lamela and Heung-min Son are a booking away from a ban.

Possible Tottenham starting XI: Lloris; Alderweireld, Sanchez, Vertonghen; Aurier, Sissoko, Wanyama, Davies; Eriksen; Son, Kane.

Match Preview

Late goals from Jan Vertonghen and Fernando Llorente combined with a strike early in the second half from Son Heung-Min have given Tottenham a healthy 3-0 lead to protect in their Champions League last-16 tie with Borussia Dortmund.

Since then, however, Spurs have failed to back that victory up. Two defeats followed by a 1-1 draw against Arsenal in the Premier League on Saturday, in which they were only a saved penalty away from crashing to another loss, have seen them fall out of the title race.

Mauricio Pochettino’s side are now in a battle simply to finish in the top four but the manager believes his side can go on and win the Champions League.

“I think many circumstances are involved where sometimes you can arrive to play a final and maybe are not the best team,” he said.

“The belief, of course, is that we can beat any team, but now I think we need to do a very good job, be professional, be aggressive and try to forget the first leg.

“In our ambition and our minds, we are always positive. We trust in ourselves and, of course, you can beat any team.”

Tottenham may be on the slide, but Dortmund are also struggling to find the type of form that carried them to the top of the Bundesliga at Christmas.

Indeed, their advantage has been whittled away entirely by Bayern Munich and they now only top the league on goal difference.

The latest setback arrived on Friday, when they lost 2-1 to Augsburg, despite absolutely dominating that match.

In spite of that blow, Marco Reus, who missed the first leg, is optimistic that his side can turn around a 3-0 deficit against the Premier League outfit.

“We have played many games in this stadium where we’ve written history and we are in a position to achieve the impossible,” he said.

“It is important to believe in ourselves and give a great performance. We need to find the right balance between defence and attack. We need to reach our peak and score the goals in the right moment. But we believe in ourselves.”

If Dortmund were to shock Spurs, it would go down as one of their greatest ever results, particularly with their lamentable recent form in mind.