On this evening, the first quarter-final matches of the Europa League will take place, where sixteen of the strongest tournament teams will compete. One of the most interesting matches awaits the spectators in Germany, where the teams holding the second place in their respective country's championships – "Borussia" and "Tottenham Hotspur" – will meet. "Eurofootball.com" presents you with a preview of these matches.
"Borussia" vs. "Tottenham Hotspur"
Match time and place: on March 10 at 8:00 PM at the "Westfalenstadion" stadium in Dortmund;
Referee: Cuneyt Cakir;
Head-to-head history: This will be the first-ever match between the two teams;
Teams' form: "Borussia" (4 wins, 1 draw), "Tottenham Hotspur" (2 wins, 1 draw, 2 losses);
Teams' path in the Europa League:
"Borussia": Second place in Group C, in the first round of knockout stage defeated "Porto" 3-0;
"Tottenham Hotspur": First place in Group J, in the first round of knockout stage defeated "Fiorentina" 4-1.
Teams' news:
"Borussia":
In this match, Thomas Tuchel will probably be able to rely on all the players in the team. The only player who has been recovering from injury recently, Sokratis, should already be back in the lineup.
The Dortmund team's coach has previously stated that the club hopes to go as far as possible in these matches, so "Borussia" undoubtedly presents its strongest lineup.
"Tottenham Hotspur":
Meanwhile, in the "Tottenham" camp, which is still fiercely fighting for the "Premier League" title, the situation is slightly different. The team's players have played many important matches in a short period of time, and the team's coach Mauricio Pochettino admitted that he will rotate his players.
It is clear that within the "Spurs" ranks, there will definitely be no injured Jan Vertonghen and Clinton Njie, and the suspended Dele Alli.
Key facts before this match:
This will be the first meeting between these teams in UEFA competitions;
Borussia" has only lost once in its last eight home matches against English teams- in a match against "Arsenal" (5 wins, 2 draws);
"Tottenham" has only won twice in Germany in its history - in 2006 against "Bayer" and in 1974 against "Koln";
In the last knockout match where "Borussia" faced a "Premier League" club, the winner won the entire tournament ("Manchester United" in the 1996-1997 Champions League semi-finals);
Erik Lamela has scored six goals in this season's Europa League. He is only surpassed in this tournament by Aritz Aduriz, who has scored seven times;
Henrikh Mkhitaryan has created the most opportunities for his teammates in the Europa League among "Borussia" players (20 chances created).
