5 reasons Borussia Dortmund can still beat Tottenham Hotspur in the UEFA Champions League
Borussia Dortmund have more than just the returning Marco Reus to throw at Tottenham Hotspur as they bid to fight back from 3-0 down in their decisive UEFA Champions League last-16 second leg on 5 March.
bundesliga.com explains why the Black-Yellows can turn the tables on Mauricio Pochettino's men and book their place in the quarter-finals...
1) The Reus factor
There's no doubt Dortmund are a completely different proposition when talismanic captain Reus is on the pitch. While BVB lost only three of the 28 games he has started this season, they are winless in the three he has sat out. Absent with a groin problem, his leadership qualities were sorely missed in London, but he's more than just a black-and-yellow aura. With 17 goals and 11 assists, the Dortmund hometown hero is taking or making a chance at an average rate of pretty much one per game in all competitions in 2018/19 - which is hardly comforting for a Tottenham side that conceded the second-highest number of group goals of all teams through to the last 16 (10).
Watch: Marco Reus has won Player of the Month awards in September, November and December
2) The Signal Iduna Park
A fit-again Reus is one thing, but a fit-again Reus at the Signal Iduna Park is another. Dortmund have lost just once at their world-famous home since May 2018, and on penalties at that after Reus went off injured at half-time in their DFB Cup Round of 16 meeting with Werder Bremen. Their home record in 2018/19 is otherwise pretty faultless: 14 wins, two draws and 41 goals scored. BVB have accounted for the likes of Bayern Munich, RB Leipzig and Borussia Mönchengladbach, tonked lowly Nuremberg 7-0 and subjected Diego Simeone to his heaviest defeat as Atletico Madrid boss - and a repeat of that particular 4-0 drubbing would send Spurs packing...
Watch: Take a look inside Dortmund's spine-tingling Signal Iduna Park
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3) The 12th man
Tottenham won't just be facing 11 men, either. Tens of thousands of black-and-yellow bricks will align within Dortmund's world-famous home monument, with a good portion setting up shop within the Yellow Wall south terrace. And while its capacity is reduced somewhat to make it an all-seater stand on European nights, the effect is no less spectacular. A raucous gathering of Schwarzgelben souls that can cause opposing teams to wilt and BVB’s best to bloom: ex-Dortmund coach Jürgen Klopp once likened the experience of following his former team out onto the field to "being reborn". Don't be surprised if Tottenham's players are running home to Mummy once the tie is done and dusted...
4) Dortmund have done it before
Before you mark us down for accuracy, we know that Spurs beat Dortmund 3-1 at home and 2-1 away in the 2017/18 group stage - but rest assured the BVB ensemble that lost those games, particularly the second fixture, is a world away from the first-choice XI that put four without reply past Atletico back in October. In terms of mentality and performance levels, Lucien Favre's troupe are more comparable with Thomas Tuchel's class of 2015/16, who blasted Spurs 3-0 at home and 5-1 on aggregate in the Europa League last 16.
5) Paco, Pulisic and the BVB supersubs
In the unlikely event Dortmund's A-team struggle to break Tottenham down, Favre has a Plan B and C. Plan B typically involves former Barcelona striker Paco Alcacer, who has scored a whopping 10 of his 12 Bundesliga goals so far this term as a substitute - but missed the first leg. The Swiss tactician also has, among others, Christian Pulisic waiting in the wings. The American trailblazer, who will join Tottenham's city rivals Chelsea at the end of the campaign, has saved some of his best performances in 2018/19 for the Champions League, most notably scoring the winning goal in Brugge on his 100th competitive appearance for BVB. No wonder Danish midfielder Thomas Delaney believes "Dortmund have the best bench in Europe."
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