Tottenham Hotspur will face an old foe on Matchday 2 of the Champions League. After outlasting La Liga side Villarreal 1-0 to get their return to European football's premier competition off to a winning start, Spurs will battle Bodo Glimt on the road on Tuesday night.
Spurs defeated Bodo Glimt in the Europa League semifinals, ending their underdog story before finishing their own with a Final triumph over Manchester United. So while Tottenham have experience beating Bodo Glimt and will once again be the favorites in this matchup, a road trip victory is not something Thomas Frank will take for granted.
And that's especially because he won't have his best player out there. According to Football.London's Alasdair Gold, Tottenham star center back Cristian Romero is not traveling with the rest of his teammates for the match in homely Bodo, Norway. Spurs manager Thomas Frank doesn't seem to be overly bothered about it, as he says Romero's absence against Bodo Glimt is more of a precautionary measure.
Romero is one of the best center backs on the planet and the new Tottenham captain, so his absence will always be massive. But Spurs don't need to panic for two reasons. Firstly, Romero doesn't appear to be seriously injured, and the speculation is that he suffered a minor knock while making a particularly rough tackle in the gritty 1-1 draw with Wolves on Saturday in the Premier League.
Tottenham are strong in this position
But secondly, Tottenham have such great center back depth. Micky van de Ven is already a world-class center back, and Romero's backup, Kevin Danso, isn't actually far off from the top-class level either, given he was arguably the best defender in all of Ligue 1 with Lens before making a smart transfer to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Danso was excellent in the Europa League last season in his own right, and the strong and handsome Austrian international should be more than enough for Tottenham as Van de Ven's center back partner against Bodo Glimt.
If there is any concern about Spurs going into this battle in Bodo in the Champions League, then it is an anemic attack that, once again, disappointed badly over the weekend vs. lowly Wolves. Romero's absence won't help the attacking matters, as he contributes a lot more offensively than just about every other center back on this entire planet, but if Spurs don't get three points this week, it won't be because the World Cup winner is out for a bit.