Tottenham enjoys huge boost as Dortmund star escapes fight for Champions League

Tottenham was boosted by the news that Borussia Dortmund will be deprived of one of his key men on Wednesday.

The Champions League is back this week with the first four rounds of the 16 first-leg matches.

Roma will face Porto and Manchester United against Paris Saint-Germain tomorrow, before the Spurs host Dortmund at Wembley and Ajax face Real Madrid.

The opponents of the Spurs, Dortmund, are currently leading the Bundesliga, although their form since the winter break has not been up to the extremely high standards they set in the first half of the campaign.

Lucien Favre's men had 13 wins and three draws out of 17 before the start of the year, losing only once.

Since the winter break, they have won two and drawn two, their last match being a thrilling 3-3 draw with Hoffenheim, in which they let slip a 3-0 lead.

This will give the Spurs a reason for optimism, as well as news about the injuries of the leaders of the German league.

Marco Reus missed the match with Hoffenheim because of a thigh injury and he will also miss the trip to London.

Athletic Director Michael Zorc said: "I do not expect a miracle cure before Wednesday."

Reus will be a big failure, having scored 17 goals and 7 badists in 27 games for BVB.

And the German giants could be without another of their big names with dubious Lukasz Piszczek for the trip to the National Stadium of England. Ruhr Nachrichten said his involvement in the game was "questionable".

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