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The Dortmund team celebrate after a goalBorussia Dortmund took a giant step into the quarter-finals of the Europa League as they beat Tottenham Hotspur with three unanswered goals in the first leg of the round-of-16 clash at the Signal Iduna Park.Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang broke the deadlock for the hosts in the first half before Marco Reus followed it up with a brace in the second to all but settle the tie. The Lilywhites huffed and puffed in their quest for taking something away to North London next week for the second leg, but couldn’t beat a resilient BVB side as their European ambitions took a massive bruising.Here are the major talking points from Westfalenstadion:
#1 Toothless Tottenham no match for dynamic Dortmund
As if the final score is not enough to suggest, Borussia Dortmund ran the rings around an under-strength Tottenham Hotspur to take a mammoth lead to White Hart Lane for the second leg in a week’s time. Thomas Tuchel’s side were the better of the two right from the off and kept the visitors under wraps for large spells of the game.
Having made as many as seven changes to the line-up that drew against Arsenal at home last weekend, including dropping Harry Kane to the bench, Spurs never looked like threatening Dortmund on paper, and so it turned out that way. The Premier League outfit were dire and barely managed to ruffle any Dortmund feathers.
Tottenham were far from their best and were no match against a rampant Dortmund side.
#2 Pochettino putting the premium on the EPL
For all the pre-match talks about taking the game seriously, Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino fielded an under-strength squad that in no way would have beaten a Borussia Dortmund side that has been firing on all cylinders this season. And the consequences are a seemingly unassailable 3-0 loss that virtually puts them out of contention of the Europa League.
With the likes of Erik Lamela, Nabil Bentaleb, Mousa Dembele and Harry Kane all relegated to the bench, the Argentinian gaffer instead played youngsters Kieran Trippier, Thomas Carroll, Ryan Mason and Josh Onomah in the starting XI. That speaks volumes about his seriousness towards the game.
Although Heung-Min Son has a good record against Die Borussen, having scored 5 times in his last 5 appearances against them, the Korean was deprived of the usual services upfront and cut a forlorn figure in the attack.
Today’s game merely suggested that Pochettino doesn’t have the Europa League on his mind, and is solely focused on the Premier League.
#3 Aubameyang and Reus get the job done
Borussia Dortmund’s two stellar forwards Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Marco Reus have been in a terrific vein of form for the North-Rhine outfit throughout the season and are the driving factors for Dortmund’s re-emergence this season.
The attacking duo worked in tandem again against Tottenham today, and the result is there for all to see. Three goals were shared between them as Aubameyang broke the deadlock with an impeccable header before Reus put the tie to bed with a superb brace. The Dortmund duo were a thorn in Tottenham’s flesh as they tormented the visitors with their great link-up play and brilliant attacking prowess.
Aubameyang and Reus, the Batman and Robin of Dortmund, have now accrued 44 goals between them this season and continue to keep the BVB juggernaut running.
#4 Aston Villa to help Spurs bounce back
It has been a harrowing week or so, for Tottenham Hotspur. The high-flying North-Londoners saw their surprise title bid hit the skids with a 1-0 loss to West Ham last week, before being held to a nervy 2-2 draw by Arsenal in the North-London derby.
The worst, though, was still to come as they were emphatically beaten by a spirited Borussia Dortmund side to cap off a miserable seven days for Mauricio Pochettino’s band of swashbucklers. The Lilywhites have been riding a massive wave of confidence this season following a strong push on the domestic front but have been losing steam of late.
In such a situation, the game against Aston Villa at White Hart Lane this weekend becomes extremely important. Villa sit rock-bottom in the Premier League table with just three victories all season and are staring at another battering by another team.
A victory on Sunday would, at last, provide some comfort for the beleaguered Spurs to rely on.
#5 Dortmund are serious contenders for the title
Borussia Dortmund are back to their rip-roaring best this season after spending the whole of the last term in slumber, and they should be taken seriously. The side has been on a rampaging form right from the start of the season and shows no signs of stopping.
Following today’s resounding success over Tottenham, Dortmund have truly laid down the gauntlet to the other teams in Europe participating in the competition, for they are no push-overs of last season, and are really in it to win it. Thomas Tuchel is doing a great job at the helm and is on course to restore the club to its glory days of the past.
With Bayern Munich running away with the Bundesliga for yet another year, the Europa League presents them with a golden opportunity to reclaim their lofty status, and Dortmund also look most certainly to take it.
