We meet again – already! A mere eight days after the 0-0 draw in Frankfurt, Eintracht once again find themselves facing Spurs (Wednesday, 12 October, 21:00 CEST), with important points up for grabs as both team look to make it through to the round of 16 of the UEFA Champions League. “It’s as close as we expected it to be in the group, and the head-to-head may end up being the deciding factor,” said Eintracht head coach Oliver Glasner regarding the current status of Group D.
Coming into the fourth matchday, the Eagles are level on points with their north London rivals on four apiece, behind Sporting Clube de Portugal who lead the way on six. Both teams have a win, a draw and a loss to their name, with Olympique de Marseille bringing up the rear on three points. At the half-way stage of the group games, the tension is mounting.
Struggles at home to Bundesliga opposition
While the Eagles slipped up in their dress rehearsal this weekend, losing 3-0 to VfL Bochum, Tottenham squeezed past Brighton & Hove Albion 1-0 on Saturday. When it comes to German opposition however, Spurs have a less impressive record, having lost four of their last six home games to Bundesliga sides including the last two. Those four defeats all came against different clubs: Borussia Dortmund in the UEFA Europa League (2016) and then Bayer 04 Leverkusen (2016), Bayern Munich (2019) and Leipzig (2020) in the Champions League.
In the first meeting of the two teams last week in Germany, there was little to choose between them – both sides fought hard to create chances, some of them gilt-edged, but neither managed to break the deadlock. Much of the credit for Tottenham’s star striker Harry Kane coming away from Frankfurt empty-handed goes to defensive lynchpin Makoto Hasebe. The Japanese star, 38 years young, has the second-best record in the UEFA Champions League this season in terms of duels won (86.7%), behind only Milan Havel of Viktoria Pilzen (93.3%). Hasebe will have to be on his game once again on Wednesday – and the same goes for his Eintracht team-mates.
