Tottenham star AXED from UCL squad despite remarkable Thomas Frank admission

Tottenham Hotspur boss Thomas Frank wanted to add fit-again Dominic Solanke to his squad for the Champions League - and that meant Mathys Tel had to be sacrificed

Mathys Tel has been axed from Tottenham’s Champions League squad for a SECOND time. The £30m summer signing has been told he will not be included for Tottenham's showdown with Borussia Dortmund in favour of Dominic Solanke.

It is a hammer blow for the France under-21 international who was left out of their Champions League squad at the start of the campaign but got a reprieve and played against Slavia Prague last month. But that lasted for just one game because he has been dropped again because Solanke is fit again and it must throw a huge question mark over Tel’s future at the club.

It also comes amid a massive injury crisis at Tottenham which leaves them missing THIRTEEN players for their showdown with Dortmund which is crucial for their chances of qualifying for the knock-out stages.

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Tottenham boss Thomas Frank said: “Yeah, I made the decision. It was not a nice decision to have to make. Unfortunately that’s football, you have to make a decision. With the way the rules are, the only option was it was either Dom or Mathys in the squad.

I chose Dom because… I think Mathys has done very well in the last couple of games and that’s the crazy thing, if I could pick from all the players that are fit, then he would start tomorrow. But I can only pick between the two of them and now he is out of the squad. That’s of course a tough one to take for Mathys.”

Tottenham’s missing list includes Micky van de Ven who is suspended while Conor Gallagher is ineligible and Ben Davies has undergone ankle surgery.

Joao Palhinha is the latest injury casualty while Pape Matar Sarr, Yves Bissouma, Radu Dragusin, Dejan Kulusevski, James Maddison, Mohammed Kudus, Rodrigo Bentancur and Richarlison are all out.

Even Xavi Simons has been a doubt with an ankle injury but is set to play with Frank insisting he only has 11 fully fit players to choose from.

Frank said: “It never rains but it pours. Even the best coach in the world, you are nothing without your players, your best players and it’s fair to say they haven’t been available enough the whole season which makes it a little bit more tricky.”