SON LAYING WASTE TO DORTMUND, AGAIN

In topping Group A ahead of Atletico Madrid, Borussia Dortmund deserved a kind last 16 draw. Instead, they’ll face their nemesis: Son Heung-min (oh, and Harry Kane, Christian Eriksen, Dele Alli and the rest of Tottenham).

Son’s career rate of goals to games hovers just below one in three, which for a wide forward is respectable but not spectacular. Against Dortmund, though, he has netted eight times in nine starts.

It began with a pair of braces back in 2012-13, when Son was 20 and playing for Hamburg, then continued at Bayer Leverkusen and with Spurs in continental competition. He seems simply unstoppable whenever he takes on Die Schwarzgelben.

Of those eight strikes (four using his left foot, three with his right, one with his head), five were genuinely terrific goals. In 2012 there was his brilliant solo effort, intercepting a pass in his own half, running at defenders and curling in a neatly placed shot from 20 yards.

Another delightful strike followed later in the season, again cutting in from the right and this time finding the inside of a post. His Leverkusen goal was scored from a tight angle, and at Tottenham he notched two in fine fashion during last season’s Champions League group stage: another from a narrow angle following a superb run, and a perfectly-placed winner into the top corner. His other goals have plenty to recommend them, from a stooping header to two well-taken poacher’s efforts.

The good news for the Germans is that whereas the attacking, high-press mantras of Jurgen Klopp, Thomas Tuchel and Peter Bosz regularly played into Son’s hands, Lucien Favre prefers a different setup without the ball. Son could find it a lot tougher this time, or just twonk one in from the edge of the penalty area again.