White Hart Lane outfit start Champions League campaign with tricky trip to northern Germany.
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Tottenham have received a boost ahead of their Champions League group stage debut with the news Luka Modric may be fit enough to face Werder Bremen.
Modric limped off in the 1-1 draw at West Brom on Saturday, but his leg injury is not as bad as first feared.
Spurs are without Jermain Defoe and Michael Dawson (both ligament damage).
Werder also have selection problems with Per Mertesacker definitely missing and Naldo and Claudio Pizarro both struggling with knee injuries.
Mertesacker fractured an eye-socket playing for Germany in a Euro 2012 qualifier last week, so Werder may have to call upon former Arsenal defender Mikael Silvestre.
A patched-up Werder side held Bayern Munich to a goalless draw at home on Saturday and Spurs boss Harry Redknapp is fully aware of the task facing his team against Thomas Schaaf’s side.“I am not going to go away from home and play 4-4-2 as we will get opened up,” said Redknapp, who manages in the Champions League group stage for the first time.
“We go to Germany and [expect] they will play with a diamond, so they will have four players in the middle of the park.
“If we have two in there they will run around chasing shadows as Werder pop it around. So we will have to look at that. At home, I am 90% certain I will play with two strikers. But away from home, it will be different.”
New signing Rafael van der Vaart will make his European debut for Spurs and he is confident his experience of playing in the competition will help his team-mates.
“I have a lot of experience in the Champions League,” said the Dutch international midfielder. “I have played with Ajax in the competition, Hamburg and Madrid. I hope that I can help the team and I’m sure I can.
“The Champions League is the biggest stage for the club and the players. It’s a really good experience.” (BBC Sport)
Highlights of this game will be posted on this site the moment the final whistle has been blown.
Tottenham travel to Bremen on the back of some pretty average form that has seen Harry Redknapp’s side collect one point from two matches against likely relegation battlers but the White Hart Lane boss will hope his side can put the Premier League to one side as they embark on their maiden Champions League voyage.
They take on a Werder side jam packed with experienced campaigners including the likes of Torsten Frings, Tim Borowski, Claudio Pizarro and Per Mertesacker. Thomas Schaaf’s side also have a smattering of top quality youngsters who have impressed greatly in their early careers with talents such as Marko Marin and Aaron Hunt.
The good news for Spurs is that their Bundesliga opponents are not in the best of form either. They have managed four points from their opening three domestic games, including an embarrassing 4-1 defeat at Hoffenheim. However it is worth noting just how consistent the Bremen side has been in recent years, with six top three finishes in the past seven years they are Champions League veterans and that could well count in their favour as they take on the north London side.
Highlights of Tottenham’s recent Champions League qualifiers.
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