Don’t blow all your good work, Spurs
TOTTENHAM cannot afford to relax in the Champions League even though they have already reached the last 16. It is imperative they top their group. Paris St Germain and Barcelona are surely going to go through in first place, so if Spurs do the same, they will take both those sides out of the equation for the next round.
PSG look very strong and are probably joint favourites along with Manchester City. Barcelona are still a very good side and you do not want to face them early on.
There is a good chance the four other English teams will win their groups and rules dictate you cannot face a side from your home country until the quarterfinals. Should Spurs allow Real Madrid to overtake them in Group H, that would leave them with only one other option outside of PSG and Barcelona.
Their win over Madrid has put them in a strong position and they must not undo all the good work.
Borussia Dortmund have not performed in Europe this season but still boast a good squad and the atmosphere will be intense. Tottenham need to attack the game in a positive manner.
They also need to show what all great teams can do and that is bounce back from a poor performance.
You could tell after just five minutes of the north London derby against Arsenal that they were not at it. Harry Kane and Dele Alli went into it off the back of minor injuries and sometimes you can disappoint when your two best players are not 100 per cent.
Spurs have lost three of their past five games, but I don’t think they are starting to believe their own hype.
Having watched them against Real Madrid and Liverpool recently, Mauricio Pochettino will not allow them to get ahead of themselves. They are still a very good team and have a strong manager who won’t let up. Of course, the more this happens in big games, people will make an issue out of it.
But I don’t think they have a problem taking on big teams, they’ve just been found wanting a few times.
In saying that, if they don’t put it right, it will affect their season. They won’t win the Premier League and will struggle to get through to the latter stages of the Champions League.
When you come up against the big boys, that’s where the small difference is between winners and teams that fall short. Dortmund provide them with a good opportunity to steady the ship. They’re in a great position knowing they are already through.
They will want to answer some questions, though, on some bad form over the past few weeks.
Given doubts over Kane’s fitness, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Fernando Llorente start up front instead.
Llorente is still waiting to score his first goal for the club but I still think he was a good signing after Spurs got him from Swansea in the summer.
When you have a player as good as Kane, it is very hard to get competition for his place because the back-up player will not get in the team.
You have to either find a young player who is happy to learn from Kane and get a few minutes here and there or you get someone at the other end of their career, like Llorente.
It made sense for Spurs to get an experienced player, who knew what he was getting into. Last season the role was filled by Vincent Janssen but he just didn’t seem to get to grips with the Premier League and Tottenham’s style.
Unlike Janssen, Llorente has done it in the top flight — he showed what he could do at Swansea.
He kept Swansea up last season with his goals and is a different option because of his size — you can hit him with more direct balls than you would with Harry. Fernando also has decent movement and can finish.
Naturally, given a lack of minutes, Llorente is relying more on the training pitch to build an understanding with his new team-mates.
But there are plenty of players who can provide the service he needs, creative talent like Alli, Christian Eriksen, Heung-min Son. Plus in Kieran Trippier, they have one of the best crossers in England, while Ben Davies has shown he can provide, too.
There is a lot of pressure on Kane to score and stay fit. I’m sure he wouldn’t have it any other way but I still expect Llorente to come good.
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