Spurs Drawn Against Borussia Dortmund in Europa League

Spurs are set to face-off against German giants, Borussia Dortmund, in the round of 16 of the Europa League on March 10 and 17.

After facing Serie A’s third-placed team, Fiorentina, in the Europa League’s round of 32, things don’t get much easier for Tottenham in the next round once again.

This time Spurs have quite possibly the hardest match-up — but also the most attractive and premier fixture out of the entire round of 16 draw — when they go up against Borussia Dortmund, the Bundesliga’s second-placed team.

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For Spurs to be drawn against another tough opponent, it would appear that they got the short end of the stick when looking at the other match-ups in. But should Mauricio Pochettino be able to navigate through a difficult match-up then Tottenham would eliminate one of the strongest clubs remaining on their way to the quarter-finals.

When the draw was officially announced, both Thomas Tuchel (Dortmund’s manager) and Michael Zorc (Dortmund’s sporting director) voiced their excitement and caution about facing Spurs in 13 days time.

“I think it’s a super draw. It’s super tough, but also super attractive,” Tuchel said.

“We’ve got two exciting games to look forward to and I’m personally really looking forward to meeting a special coach and also the special atmosphere in the second leg at White Hart Lane.”

“They are the toughest team we could have got,” Zorc added. “But of course it is also an extremely attractive tie.”

Perusing Spurs’ official site, Tottenham and Borussia Dortmund haven’t played much against one another. Let alone in any competitive game. They’ve mainly been pre-season tournaments or friendlies.

The last meeting between the two happened nearly a decade ago back in 2008. Obviously both teams are no longer the same from back then, however they are similar now when compared to one another in certain aspects leading up to the first leg.

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Dortmund’s form is nearly perfect with the German club winning 11 and drawing once in their last 12 matches in all competitions. Spurs meanwhile have won eight, drawn twice and lost twice in the same span in all competitions.

Helping leading their teams to success are strikers Harry Kane and Pierre-Emerick Abumeyang, the top scorers for their clubs. Kane has 16 goals in the Premiership (19 in all comps) and Abumeyang has 21 goals in the Bundesliga (31 in all comps).

Spurs and Dortmund are second place with 51 points apiece in their respective leagues. But Tottenham are two points behind league leaders, Leicester City, while Bayern Munich are ahead of Borussia Dortmund by eight points.

In terms of goals scored and goals against, Spurs have scored 47 and conceded 20, while Dortmund have scored 54 goals and conceded 24.

Clearly this is the most even match-up in this year’s Europa League and it’s great that it’s a two-legged affiar. The only downside is that it’s not taking place in the quarter-finals, semi-finals or finals. Instead, it’s a round of 16 fixture only.

Nevertheless, with the first leg set to kick-off on Thursday, March 10 at the Signal Iduna Park in Dortmund, Germany before returning to Tottenham, London and playing in White Hart Lane a week later on March 17. Both teams don’t have much time to get ready because it’s already under two weeks away (13 days to be exact).

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And with two big competitions being played at the same time for Tottenham and Dortmund (BVB are also in the semi-finals of the DFL-Pokal on April 20) it’ll be interesting to see how Mauricio Pochettino and Thomas Tuchel decides to select their lineups for the first leg.

The quarter-finals are up for grabs, but too strong of a lineup could have severe consequences. Mainly tired legs for important league fixtures and trying to maintain their current position of second place and pushing for first while also securing a Champions League qualification spot and trying to win the Europa League.

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