Despite injures, Tottenham-Dortmund promises to be a thriller

Two teams with a relentless press and the ability to score on the break, Tottenham and Borussia Dortmund go head-to-head in the round of 16.

Most of us remember the two fixtures between Tottenham and Borussia Dortmund in the group stages of the Champions League last year. Dortmund began the season playing open, high-flying attacking soccer under manager Peter Bosz. A style that suited them well in the Bundesliga, however, was easily found out in the Champions League.

Tottenham beat Dortmund both home and away, and slowly Dortmund’s season began to unravel.

Dortmund are a completely different proposition this year. New manager Lucien Favre has instilled a degree of discipline in the center of the park — with Axel Witsel the orchestrator — and revitalized this Dortmund team. First and foremost, he’s made them a team again. A team that until very recently had been flying toward their first Bundesliga title since 2012.

Dortmund also topped a tough group, showing their capabilities by thrashing Atletico Madrid 4-0. Favre has managed to instill a degree of confidence and composure to this Dortmund side that didn’t exist under Bosz. This is a team that can control possession and grind an opponent down, and when given the chance go for the jugular on the counter. Favre has found a perfect balance between youth and experience in this side and has made them a tough outfit to face once again. They’ve stuttered in recent weeks, dropping points they shouldn’t have, and will have to be at their best against Spurs.

Tottenham, in many ways, mirror Dortmund. Mauricio Pochettino has been working miracles with his side this season, despite Harry Kane and Dele Alli missing some key fixtures already. Tottenham have shown a number of times already how good they can be when they go out all guns blazing. Much like Dortmund, Tottenham press as a team and look to counter-attack and score quickly, but have also had to grind out wins when underperforming. They have had to resort to scraping victories in recent weeks. Players and managers know how important such victories can be, however. A tough, backs-against-the-wall win has a way of uniting teams that one-sided thrashings don’t.

Both sides come into this game ailing, with injuries keeping key players out. With the fixtures piling up, neither side will have the luxury of taking it easy, however. Expect an all out brawl between the two comparable sides. Pochettino always expects a performance from his wards and will look to be brave and take control of the match as soon as possible. This could suit Dortmund, however,  who under Favre prefer to play on the counter, utilizing the pace and trickery of Jadon Sancho and the clinical finishing of Paco Alcacer.

Nearly impossible to predict, this match promises to be a topsy turvy affair across the 180 minutes over the two legs. The winner? Your guess is as good as ours.