Do-or-die for Spurs; PSG gear up for Napoli
london — Desperate to avoid Champions League elimination at the group stage for the second time in three years, Tottenham face a do-or-die clash against PSV Eindhoven on Tuesday.
Mauricio Pochettino’s side are third in Group B after taking just one point from their first three matches. Tottenham’s exit from Europe’s elite club competition would be confirmed if they lose to PSV at Wembley and second placed Inter Milan beat group leaders Barcelona.
Even a draw against PSV won’t be enough if Inter win.
Tottenham will need more of that fighting spirit to reach the Champions League knockout stages, with matches against Barcelona and Inter Milan remaining after the PSV clash.
Paris Saint-Germain may well need goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon at his best against Napoli, considering the form Dries Mertens is in.
The Belgium forward scored a hat trick in Friday’s 5-1 victory over Empoli and has netted six goals in his past four matches, including one in the 2-2 draw at PSG.
PSG are in third place with four points in Group C and needs to win, but it can also count on considerable firepower of their own in Kylian Mbappe and Neymar. They both scored against Lille on Friday with Mbappe taking his season’s league tally to 11 in only eight games.
PSG coach Thomas Tuchel has a big decision to make on whether to select Edinson Cavani against his former club. Cavani is PSG’s all-time leading scorer but has fallen behind Mbappe and Neymar.
In Berlin, Less than two weeks after their biggest loss under coach Diego Simeone, Atletico Madrid will get a chance to make amends.
The Spanish team will host Borussia Dortmund, 13 days after the Bundesliga leaders beat Atletico 4-0 in Germany.
Dortmund are unbeaten in 15 competitive games under coach Lucien Favre and can advance from Group A with another victory. An upcoming Bundesliga match against Bayern Munich on Saturday could provide some distraction, however.
The 4-0 loss on Oct. 24 equalled Atletico’s worst result in the competition, while it was the team’s first four-goal loss in 391 games with Simeone in charge. Despite the result, Atletico can also advance to the knockout stage with a win if Monaco draws with Club Brugge in the earlier group game. —