And that’s all from me. Thanks for being here. Bye!
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Our match stats are suggesting the two teams shared possession equally, with 50% each. They’re broken, obviously. Everything else seems about right, though.
There’s another Europa League happening tonight, apparently. Join Paul Doyle for Liverpool v Manchester United here:
Semi-suicidal stuff from Spurs, who made seven changes, turned down their usual full-throttle approach, and hoped to emerge from a visit to an in-form, nearly-full-strength Dortmund with nothing worse than a marginal defeat. They were, as a result, never in it, and got a pretty heavy hiding. “If Poch’s pre-match comments basically insinuated he was resigned to losing this tie, Spurs should be reimbursing all their fans who spent several hundred quid going over to support them,” sniffs Wilson Beuys.
To focus entirely on Tottenham’s shortcomings would however be unfair on an outstanding Borussia side, who look like they are currently where Pochettino’s Spurs hope to be in a few years’ time. Reus will get the headlines, but the midfield trio of Mkhitaryan, Weigl and Castro were pulling all the strings. Excellent strings. Silky, silky strings.
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Final score: Borussia Dortmund 3-0 Tottenham Hotspur
90+4 mins: Well, that was emphatic.
90+2 mins: Spurs are still doing some gentle prodding on the right, with time running out. “Or Spurs could, you know, try to compete next time,” writes Alex Whitney, in response to Mats Anderson. “This was pathetic. Perhaps the first XI players that were on the pitch took a pre-match cue from the manager and had little desire from the get-go.”
90+2 mins: Spurs laboriously work the ball to Trippier on the right, and he crosses straight out of play. He has his head in his hands afterwards, as well he might.
90+1 mins: Into stoppage time we go, and there’ll be more or less three minutes of it.
89 mins: Lamela sprints towards a ball into the area, Weidenfeller comes and claims it first. The Argentinian makes gentle arse-cheek-on-back contact, and Weidenfeller flings himself about and rolls around for a while. No second caution is forthcoming, though.
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87 mins: The ball is played behind the home defence for Kane to run onto. He assumes Weidenfeller will reach it first, stops running, changes his mind, starts running, and then realises that even if Weidenfeller wouldn’t have won it initially, he certainly will now. “Dortmund should bill us for this lesson. And we should pay,” writes Mats Anderson. “And we should ponder what can be learned from it. Which is a lot. Dortmund when in this form are the bench mark. They have shown us what is required. Accept it was a lessson, learn and come back stronger.”
86 mins: That was a free-kick all day long, and all night too. Bad call from Cakir.
85 mins: Onomah bursts towards the penalty area and goes down, as Hummels tackles. Was it inside the penalty area? Well it doesn’t really matter, as the referee waves play on again.
@Simon_Burnton Remember when @BVB were 3-0 down to @oddsbk in the @EuropaLeague play-off round in August? That seems a long time ago.
— Diarmuid Ó Dálaigh (@Falcologist) March 10, 2016
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83 mins: “I really don’t get the point of the PL v BL discussion,” writes Ingo Herzke. “Never mind the outcome of tonight’s game, I think both leagues are on roughly the same level; most teams from both sides could hold their in either competition. Liverpool against Augsburg was a case in point: two teams from mid-table, both games fairly even.” I agree, but it’s only a matter of time before Uefa notices public demand for proper evidence here and invents some kind of bottom-half-teams-only pan-European contest.
82 mins: Pochettino’s pre-match interview sounded a bit fatalistic at the time, and now reads like a pre-emptive apology. “What happens, happens. It’s important for us to play, to live this moment. It’s important to take the positive things today.” Dortmund bring on Ramos and Kagawa, and take off Reus and Aubameyang.
80 mins: A wasted chance for Dortmund – Piszczek is found in all sorts of space on the right by Mkhitaryan, but with three players to pick out in the area he instead finds Lloris.
79 mins: Spurs get a free-kick on the right, which Lamela crosses left-footed, and the ball flies just above Alderweireld.
78 mins: Onomah, who’s been pretty much invisible this half, gets the ball in space on the right, pauses and falls over it.
77 mins: Harry Kane is finally on the pitch, and Son goes off. Spurs need to score an away goal, without conceding any more, if they’re to have a hope in leg two, you’d have thought.
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76 mins: Bad miss from Mkhitaryan! A lovely crossfield pass sends the ball from right to left, from where it’s centred and Mkhitaryan arrives unmarked but volleys over from the penalty spot! If only he could volley like he passes …
@Simon_Burnton That Mkhitaryan can see a pass, I think it's fair to say.
— Diarmuid Ó Dálaigh (@Falcologist) March 10, 2016
74 mins: Dortmund are, on form, one of Europe’s best teams. You can’t make seven changes, and put in a feckless, unusually passive performance and come away from this game with anything less than a sound beating.
71 mins: Shot! A shot from a Tottenham player! A shot on target! Son is responsible, and it’s a bit of a stretchy toe-poke that sends the ball bobbling to Weidenfeller. Still, a shot!
GOAL! Borussia Dortmund 3-0 Tottenham (Reus, 70 mins)
Well that’s lovely. Aubameyang is fed the ball, midway through the Spurs half, carries it forward, skips past a couple of tackles and passes to Castro to his left, whose first-time right-footed cross goes over Alderweireld and lands on Reus’s toe, for him to volley into the top corner.
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67 mins: Lamela makes his mark swiftly, running into Weigl with the ball long gone and getting booked. The 20-year-old Weigl has played well today.
64 mins: Lamela is about to come on to lead Tottenham’s attempted comeback. Eriksen is on his way off, thumping one last corner into the nearest defender by way of farewell. “Those comparing the Bundesliga with the Premiership on the strength of this match would do well to note that this is Dortmund’s 12th match in 2016 coming off the back of a lovely mid-winter break. This is Tottenham’s 17th. Now I don’t even like Tottenham but that’s just not a fair comparison,” writes David Dein. “For English teams to do well in Europe they need to play many fewer games. Getting rid of FA Cup replays, the Carling Cup and reducing the Premiership by a couple of teams would be a good start and would allow them to have a Winter break at the start of January. The sooner Uefa creates rules about League sizes the better – the Premiership can’t vote that in as that would be turkeys voting for Christmas.”
62 mins: The marking from that corner was just weird. Mkhitaryan took it, and played it to Castro. Two Spurs defenders then followed the Armenian, actively running away from the man on the ball and leaving Castro totally and inexplicably alone. What exactly was that about?
GOAL! Borussia Dortmund 2-0 Tottenham (Reus, 61 mins)
The home side win a corner on the right, and then a corner on the left. It’s played short to Castro, who is left totally alone as he weighs up and sends in his cross. Subotic wins it, and the ball is on its way wide of the far post when Reus thunders the volley into the roof of the net!
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60 mins: Dembélé runs into the back of Mkhitaryan on the right flank, and the Dortmund midfielder does some exaggerated rolling about. The referee isn’t interested.
58 mins: A substitution for each side: Bender limps off, and Neven Subotic runs on, while Dembélé replaces Chadli for Spurs.
57 mins: A crossfield pass finds Reus in the penalty area, but as he cuts inside Alderweireld gets in the way and hacks clear.
54 mins: Aubameyang really should have scored there, but what a lovely pass from Mkhitaryan to create the chance, made all the better by a Spurs defender diving at it in an attempt to cut it out without getting near it. A couple of flying footballers always improve things. “The Premier League is ‘The Best in the World’ when you compare the quality of teams from top to bottom,” writes Bryan Tisinger. “The top two or three teams from the Spanish and German leagues are better than the top 2 or 3 teams from the Premier League, but I guarantee (this guarantee not a guarantee) the bottom half of the Premier League is better than the bottom half of the other European leagues.” Let’s not bring Aston Villa into this, eh?
52 mins: Then Spurs go up the other end, get the ball into the penalty area and Son is tackled by Sven Bender. He didn’t get much of the ball, and certainly had a bit of the player – it could, in short, very easily have been a penalty!
51 mins: Massive miss for Dortmund! And they hit the post! Mkhitaryan passes to Aubameyang, who lifts the ball over the onrushing Lloris but wide of goal, and by the time Castro reaches it it’s almost off the pitch, and he hits the post from a silly angle.
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49 mins: Spurs are basically playing with two back fours, rather than a midfield. They’re happy with 1-0 and would prefer to avoid conceding a second than take some risks in search of an equaliser.
46 mins: And they’re on the attack already, Reus playing a one-two with Aubameyang before having a left-foot shot blocked.
46 mins: Peeeeeeep! The second half is under way!
Spurs are back out, Dortmund not yet. Second half imminent.
“When they say the Premier League TM is the Best in the World TM, do they watch these matches?” wonders Ruth Purdue. “Our second best team is being taken apart.” I think “most competitive league in the world” is the phrase of choice these days, plus in many ways, given that they made seven changes for this game, it’s our second best team’s second best team.
Half time: Borussia Dortmund 1-0 Tottenham
Well, it started well for Spurs, but Borussia have been in control for most of the first half, and the English side have emerged from it in pretty good shape, all things considered.
37 - Tottenham's only shot on target in the first half v Dortmund came after 37 seconds. Overawed.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) March 10, 2016
45+3 mins: “You don’t hear the supporters moan or groan,” trills Robbie Savage of the home fans as Castro gives the ball to the recovered Trippier, with inevitable groany reaction.
45+2 mins: Here’s a heat map of the game so far. The big space without any heat is Dortmund’s penalty area.
HEAT MAP: Spurs have had just 3 events inside Borussia Dortmund's box so far tonight. One-way traffic right now. pic.twitter.com/csGeqtH7kc
— Squawka Football (@Squawka) March 10, 2016
45+1 mins: Play still hasn’t restarted as we go into two minutes of stoppage time, so there’ll probably be a couple more than that.
44 mins: Trippier rises high to win a header on the right flank for Spurs, but then lands hard, his head banging into the ground, and the game is stopped while he is treated.
41 mins: Piszczek cuts the ball back to Durm, 10 yards out, and a goal seems inevitable until Carroll, I think, slides in to deny him at the last.
This has been going downhill from about forty seconds in for Spurs.
— Ian King (@twoht) March 10, 2016
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40 mins: Mkhitaryan’s shot is deflected wide off Wimmer. And Mats Anderson emails. “Here’s to us not being humiliated. That’s what I’m hoping for,” he writes (before the goal). 1-0 would be a very good score to emerge from this game with, if Spurs can cling onto it.
38 mins: Dortmund pass the ball out of defence, as Spurs players race and dive about trying and failing to steal the ball.
37 mins: He gets the ball over the wall, but it flies wide of (and probably a foot or so over) the goal.
37 mins: Looks like Reus will take the free-kick, 25 yards out.
35 mins: Carroll is booked, for raising his foot to win a high ball and catching Schmelzer – who wins it with his head – in both nose and chest.
33 mins: And Dortmund zip down to the other end, where Aubameyang plays in Piszczek, but Lloris comes out quickly again and deals with it.
32 mins: Chance for Spurs! Well, kind of! Eriksen passes to Son, just outside the penalty area, but he delays his shot and gives Hummels the chance to get out and block.
GOAL! Borussia Dortmund 1-0 Tottenham (Aubameyang, 30 mins)
The corner is never fully cleared, and the ball ends up with Schmelzer on the left, whose first-time cross is headed in from six yards out, Aubemeyang rising high above Davies.
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29 mins: The last five minutes or so has been a little calmer. Piszczek ends it with another shot from distance, which Wimmer heads over for a corner, from which nothing again results.
28 mins: Weigl attempts an optimistic shot from wide and far, and though Lloris doesn’t catch it immediately, he eventually gathers safely.
26 mins: Some decent attacking possession from Spurs on the right, with Trippier at the heart and eventually winning a corner, which is thumped into the area and caught by Weidenfeller.
24 mins: Lloris sprints from his line to claim the ball after Hummels split the defence wide open with a pass to Reus, who was running in from the left flank.
21 mins: Mkhitaryan shapes to shoot, 20 yards out, and the defenders visibly wobble with fear. It’s just a dummy, though – he passes to Durm on the right, and his cross is turned behind by Wimmer. The corner comes to nothing.
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19 mins: Onomah chases down the ball as a defender tries to shepherd it out of play, hooks his foot around the player and kicks it into his shins and out of play. The referee gives a free kick to Dortmund, rather than a corner to Spurs.
— Dele Alli (@Dele_Alli) March 10, 2016
17 mins: It took a few minutes for Dortmund to get going but they are now screaming around the pitch at breakneck pace, ripping into Spurs in frightening style, with Mkhitaryan pulling all sorts of strings and the wide midfielders coming inside dangerously. It’s going to be a long night for Tottenham’s second-string full-backs.
14 mins: Disallowed goal! Mkhitaryan blasts an absolute zwanger from 25 yards that goes down the middle of goal but with such pace and dip and ferocity that Lloris has no chance of holding it. Aubameyang is first to the loose ball and turns it in, but he was standing offside as the shot was struck.
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14 mins: And another chance for Dortmund! It’s Durm again, and he gets into the penalty area before attempting to cut onto his left foot, and Alderweireld nicks the ball off his toes! He should have hit it with his right, surely.
12 mins: In fact, credit for stopping a potential goal has to go to Ben Davies, because Aubameyang’s foot hit him in the chest as he pulled it back pre-volley, putting him off his shot.
11 mins: Ooooh! Aubameyang plays the ball to Schmelzer on the left and bursts into the box in time to meet the cross, but Tom Carroll flies across him just before the ball arrives, possibly distracting him, and the volley goes over from eight yards.
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9 mins: Another fine, zippy home attack but the Spurs penalty area is pretty crowded by the time Castro is picked out inside it, and he’s swiftly closed down.
7 mins: Now a real chance! Erik Durm bursts into the area, running from right to left with Davies trailing in his wake, and he’s found by Aubameyang, but his first-time effort rolls wide of the far post. Excellent retweet here from Dortmund:
CHANCEN! #lautbeiuns // What a start! #bvbtot 0-0 https://t.co/Zal0IZsZhR
— Borussia Dortmund (@BVB) March 10, 2016
6 mins: Now Dortmund do attack, but after a fine move Gonzalo Castro sends his shot flying over the bar.
4 mins: The corner is swiftly worked back to Lloris, who finds Ben Davies in space on the left, standing right by the benches, where Tuchel is visibly furious about the amount of space he’s in.
4 mins: Spurs attack again, with Onomah bursting down the right and winning a corner. Dortmund have barely got out of their half yet.
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1 min: A shot! And Tottenham have it, with space opening up in front of Eriksen, 20 yards from goal, but his effort is a bit down-the-middlish.
Peeeeeeep!
1 min: The visitors get us under way, and swiftly win a throw-in deep into Dortmund territory, which is booted clear.
Anthems played, hands shaken, kick-off is mere moments away.
And out they come!
The players are gathering in the tunnel. This is about to happen.
Not for the last time tonight, You’ll Never Walk Alone blares out in the stadium before a Europa League game …
Mauricio Pochettino has now spoken to BT Sport, ahead of his 100th game as Tottenham’s manager:
We always try to pick the best team for every game. it’s true that Dier is in London, Dembele and Harry kane is on the bench. We have ahead a lot of games, and always try to pick the fresh team to win the game.
It’s true, 100 games I think is OK, it’s good, I’m happy for that. But I’m focused on the game. We know that Borussia Dortmund is a very good team, a Champions League level, have a lot of very good players. What happens, happens. It’s important for us to play, to live this moment. For the future, we have the youngest squad in the Premier League. We need to enjoy the game and try to win the game, because this is our ambition. But it’s important to take the positive things today and in the next week too.
This is what Dortmund’s Thomas Tuchel had to say about this game when BT Sport spoke to him yesterday:
A game against Bayern [they drew 0-0 at the weekend] costs you a lot, so we took a day off for recovery. Everybody is fit and we’re looking forward. It’s a high-class team that we are facing now and hopefully we are ready.
İlkay Gündoğan isn’t in the squad, so either he sustained an injury in the last 24 hours (which is possible, as suggested below) or Tuchel’s keeping a bit in reserve.
The teams are in! Gundogan drops out through injury. Durm continues in the side. #BVBTOT
— DW Sports (@dw_sports) March 10, 2016
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So Kane and Lamela are on the bench for Spurs, and Dele Alli, who “has a problem in his ankle and knee” according to his manager, is not involved (he’s also suspended).
@Simon_Burnton Looks like Poch has decided which league he wants to win...
— Craig (@jorgalbertz) March 10, 2016
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And the teams are in!
Borussia Dortmund: Weidenfeller, Bender, Hummels, Piszczek, Weigl, Schmelzer, Durm, Mkhitaryan, Castro, Reus, Aubameyang. Subs: Burki, Subotic, Leitner, Sahin, Ramos, Kagawa, Ginter.
Tottenham Hotspur: Lloris, Trippier, Alderweireld, Wimmer, Davies, Carroll, Mason, Onomah, Eriksen, Son, Chadli. Subs: Vorm, Walker, Bentaleb, Kane, Lamela, Dembele, Carter-Vickers.
Referee: Cuneyt Cakir (Turkey).
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Hello world!
Without further ado, some true facts about, or in some way relevant to, tonight’s game:
- Dortmund’s Henrikh Mkhitaryan has hit the woodwork five times in the Europa League since matchday one. Other than Dortmund (who have a combined nine woodwork-hittings) no one team’s combined woodwork-assaults exceed Mkhitaryan’s solo efforts.
- Tottenham have hosted German teams seven times in European football, winning seven, conceding once (against Bayern Munich in the 1982-83 Cup Winners’ Cup) and never losing.
- Former Bundesliga stalwart turned Tottenham running-about-merchant Son Heung-Min has five goals in five games against Dortmund.
- Cuneyt Cakir is tonight’s match referee. He has never previously whistle-blown for either of these teams. His assistants are Bahattin Duran and Tarik Ongun. Apparently Duran is Turkish for “standing”, and Ongun for “10 days”. The meaning of Cakir is a little more obscure, but is apparently a reference to a particular greyish-blue eye colour. According to kabalarians.com, the name Cakir “does make you quite direct and straight-to-the-point” but “makes it difficult for you to act with spontaneity”.
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Simon will be along shortly. Until then, here’s Stuart James on a match that could prove to be useful preparation for Tottenham as they close in on a Champions League place next season.
For Tottenham a trip to Borussia Dortmund’s Westfalenstadion offers a tantalising glimpse into the future and, at the same time, represents arguably Mauricio Pochettino’s toughest assignment as he celebrates 100 games in charge. Thomas Tuchel’s team have racked up 61 goals in 19 home fixtures this season and as the Spurs manager started to reel off the talented list of individuals lining up against his side, the size of the task was laid bare.
The Argentinian spoke of his belief that he has lifted Tottenham to another level since taking over at White Hart Lane in the summer of 2014, and pointed to the acute sense of disappointment in their dressing room on Saturday, after the 2-2 draw with Arsenal, to illustrate how far they have come and make the claim that “we are stronger than before”.
Yet Dortmund are a totally different proposition and will provide a decent yardstick for just how much Spurs have improved and whether Pochettino’s team are capable of going toe to toe with the sort of high-class opponents they may come up against in the Champions League next season.
You can read the full article here.
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