Spurs hopeful Kane and Alli will be back for second leg in Dortmund
TOTTENHAM Hotspur go into their last-16 Champions League tie against Borussia Dortmund at Wembley tonight confident Harry Kane and Dele Alli will be available for the second leg in three weeks.
Such has been the remarkable rate of Kane’s recovery, after he suffered ankle ligament damage in midJanuary, that he is around eight or nine days from being fit and is even likely to feature against Burnley in the Premier League a week on Saturday.
The striker, who has a reputation as a quick healer, is significantly ahead of his scheduled return in March and could also play against Chelsea and Arsenal in the league before facing Dortmund.
Alli, who is back training in the gym, is expected to recover from his hamstring injury for the return leg of this tie against the Bundesliga leaders, who are five points clear of champions Bayern Munich.
“We feel so good as a team, so strong,” said Jan Vertonghen, the Tottenham defender. “We know a couple of the guys will come back after the first leg as well.
“A good result in the home fixture is helpful if you have to go to a tough place like Dortmund. But we can beat anyone. We have shown that last year. Over two games we were the better team against Real Madrid, who were the eventual winners of the trophy.
“That is why it was a shame we could not do better last year because we felt we should have done. That is why everyone has the feeling we can do it this year.”
There are, however, further injuries for Spurs to worry about, with Vertonghen due to fill in at left-back as Ben Davies (groin) and Danny Rose (shin) are out. It is hoped Rose will make the bench, while Eric Dier and Erik Lamela are set to return. Such are the problems faced by a club with
ambition, and manager Mauricio Pochettino (left) gathered his squad together ahead of tonight’s match to demand one more push.
“I think you can feel in the eyes of the players the energy,” he said. “We were talking in the meeting before and it’s completely different.
“If you ask me why, I don’t know, because I’m a person whose own motivation is always high, when we play against Dortmund or Barcelona or we play different games in different competitions. But of course you can feel that it’s the Champions League, that it’s going to be a massive game with, I hope, a full stadium at Wembley.”
It will be Spurs’ 20th fixture in all competitions since the start of December and, despite Manchester United’s resurgence under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, no team has a better record in England than Spurs’ 30 points since then.
After a draw at the Nou Camp in their final Champions League group game, they finished runners-up to Barcelona in their pool to reach this stage of the competition, having failed to collect even a point from their first three ties.
With Spurs out of the FA Cup. they have a 10-day break after the Dortmund match before facing Burnley. Pochettino said: “I saw the other day on TV that from the beginning of December we were the best team in the Premier League. That spoke very highly of the squad, the players, and they deserve all the credit. We’re doing a fantastic job.”
Spurs beat Dortmund home and away in the Champions League last season but they are far more formidable opponents now under coach Lucien Favre. They will be without their top scorers, Marco Reus and Paco Alcacer, who are injured, along with Lukasz Piszczek and Julian Weigl after a flu outbreak. England’s Jadon Sancho will start. In the absence of Kane and Alli, the focus for Spurs will again fall on Son Heung-min. The South Korean, who previously played for Bayer Leverkusen, has scored eight goals in his past 10 matches against Dortmund. (© Daily Telegraph, London) Tottenham v Borussia Dortmund, Live Virgin Sport 1, BT Sport 2, 8.0