The Daly Brief | Spurs vs Borussia Dortmund, UEFA Champions League | OneFootball

"Borussia Dortmund always want to attack - but Niko Kovač has provided the defensive stability needed to compete. A prolific Champions League scorer, threats all over the pitch and experience in this competition make them a tough proposition..."

Rob Daly, official club commentator, presenter and pundit

Can Spurs stop Dortmund's number nine?

Serhou Guirassy’s debut UEFA Champions League season ended with him finishing as the competition’s top scorer with 13 goals in 14 games. The 29-year-old is a ruthless penalty box finisher, with a tall frame, quick feet and a physicality that makes him hard to dispossess. He ended 2024/25 with 38 goals total but hasn’t been as prolific this season, with Niko Kovač acknowledging back in October that they needed to manage the Guinea international given how much football he’d played over the previous. Luckily for Dortmund, Fabio Silva is finding his feet after a summer move from Wolves. Fans have been enamoured by his work rate and creativity, with the Portuguese striker starting last week’s 3-0 win over Bremen, rather than Guirassy.

How is Jobe Bellingham getting on?

Borussia Dortmund have plenty of midfield experience, like Emre Can and Marcel Sabitzer, however Jobe Bellingham, a £32m acquisition from Sunderland, has been brought in to add energy. The step up hasn’t come without its pitfall moments, including an error clearing the ball against Bayern that saw Michael Olise score the winner, plus he picked up a red card last month against Freiburg. Bellingham’s been limited to five Bundesliga starts, but tactics have dictated this too, with Kovač starting him in a 10 position behind two strikers on opening weekend against St Pauli (a 3-3 draw), before switching to three forwards instead. "I really have no doubts about him,” said Kovač recently of the 20-year-old, named 2024/25 EFL Championship Young Player of the Year. “On the contrary, I know what he can do. We're building him up gradually here, actually faster than I expected myself. The boy really has a lot of quality."

Who else should Spurs be wary of?

Nico Schlotterbeck is a premium centre-back, one who has improved under Kovač playing in a three-man defence, boasting a great left foot and experience of having played in the 2024 Champions League final. Karim Adeyemi is extraordinarily fast – able to play out wide or at the point of the attack. Consistency can sometimes be an issue, but when he’s on it, the German international is extremely difficult to stop. Gregor Kobel is having a very consistent season in goal, Felix Nmecha anchors midfield while Julian Ryerson is one of the most energetic wingbacks around – providing 7 assists so far this season, the most in the team.

What's been Niko Kovač impact?

Niko Kovač was brought in a year ago after Nuri Şahin’s brief reign came to an end, with managing director Lars Ricken saying: “Niko's teams have always been characterised by energy, determination and a sense of the importance of team spirit." There’s no denying that – especially when you look back to the Croatian’s Eintracht Frankfurt side that reached two German cup finals, winning one (in 2018), before Bayern came calling. In fact, he was in the dugout for Bayern’s 7-2 win here in the 2019/20 season, before departing not long after. He’s brought a much needed stability to Dortmund – having suffered just one league defeat this season (to Bayern). With Kovač now favouring a 3-4-3, wing-backs provide the team’s width, with narrow forwards operating behind a central striker. This is the part of the reason Dortmund had little issue in allowing Jamie Gittens, an out-and-out winger, join Chelsea in the summer.

Preview | Rob joins Ben and Clive for Dortmund analysis