The Champions League is all about playing the big boys. It’s about dining at Europe’s top table and meeting the Cristiano Ronaldo’s and Lionel Messi’s of the world along the way.
These will be the consolations Spurs fans are no doubt uttering to themselves after watching Thursday’s Champions League draw.
Francesco Totti and Andriy Shevchenko could not have pulled a much crueller group out of the hat if they had tried. Just spare a thought for Apoel, the one side who must feel even more daunted.
Real Madrid
Borussia Dortmund
Tottenham Hotspur
Apoel
There are going to be some mouth-watering ties between now and December. Mauricio Pochettino deserves nothing less than a ‘Glory Glory’ night under the lights at Wembley against the European champions.
Football’s romantics will be blessed too, with the nostalgic return of Luka Modric and Gareth Bale to their former club, which has to be seen as such or it would be completely terrifying.
It’s a group that should be embraced and one that could – just maybe – do Spurs some favours.
No expectations, no pressure
The only demand anyone will make is that they at least give a good account of themselves considering last season’s disappointment in the competition. A year ago, they were presented with Monaco, CSKA Moscow, and Bayer Leverkusen, and still found themselves back in the Europa League at the end of it all. The Wembley curse is alive and well, meaning even more pundits are likely to write Spurs off.
The trip to the Bernabeu will bring back memories of their first Champions League experience. It all went wrong in that quarter-final first leg in the Spanish capital, with Peter Crouch being sent off and Emmanuel Adebayor, of all people, scoring on the way to a 4-0 win for the hosts, at that time led by Jose Mourinho.
This time around, there is a little more cause for optimism. Statistically, Spurs now have the best defence in England and while William Gallas and Vedran Corluka played above themselves in 2011, Tottenham are now much better-prepared – though that’s not to suggest they’ll be pinning too much on what happens against Los Blancos.
Dortmund are another side they’ve faced before and it ended in similarly embarrassing fashion. That said, BVB are not necessarily as formidable as they have been in the past and they are likely to be weakened by the loss of key man Ousmane Dembele before the end of the month.
Spurs’ hand has been forced in the summer market Speaking of the transfer window, Daniel Levy can now be under no illusions as to how crucial it is that he brings in a handful more of players. There were question marks against the full-back positions against Chelsea and the prospect of a player experienced in Europe – like Serge Aurier, for example – going up against Cristiano Ronaldo is a more comfortable one than throwing either Kieran Trippier or Kyle Walker-Peters in at the deep end. If rumours about Aurier are to be believed, a new right-back is being targeted regardless.
One of the very few criticisms of Pochettino during his time at White Hart Lane has been the scepticism over whether he takes the cup competitions seriously. It would be understandable, to some extent, if he didn’t, as he doesn’t have the squad depth at his disposal to juggle many competitions at once. The chance for Spurs to mount a proper assault on the Champions League, even if it seems unlikely on paper that they’ll progress, is surely too good to pass up and it could just force Levy’s hand in the next few days.
