Borussia Dortmund at Wembley is the game Mauricio Pochettino has been waiting for during reign as Tottenham boss
IT doesn’t get much bigger than this... mid-week, under the lights and against Europe’s very best.
Spurs have one hell of a game on their hands when Borussia Dortmund come to town in the Champions League.
With the marvellous result against Everton at the weekend under their belts, the North London side will want to continue that domestic brilliance against the German giants.
The game presents an interesting conundrum for Spurs.
Last season, the Premier League runners-up felt their group was very much winnable, but found themselves crashing out in dramatic style.
This campaign however, the draw has been less than kind with current holders Real Madrid, Dortmund and APOEL to contest in the dreaded "group of death".
However as Harry Kane recently pointed out, this could be ideal. As the old saying goes, if you want to be the best you have to beat the best.
The two games against BVB are arguably the fixtures that will decide the group.
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With Madrid likely winners, if Spurs can avoid defeat - especially in the away leg - and pick up some points at home, second spot could be theirs.
But there is another reason why this game is so important for fans of the club.
It’s fair to say Tottenham gaffer Mauricio Pochettino has not yet had his stand out European game in charge of the side.
His predecessors, Harry Redknapp and Martin Jol brought those glory nights back to the club, but Pochettino finds himself lacking in that department.
Spurs fans have never felt such a close connection with a manager than the bond they share with the Argentine.
The fact that he has been deprived of a such a memorable European night at the helm of the club is a sour point amongst supporters, and something his loyal players will desperately want to correct.
Facing Peter Bosz’s side at Wembley presents an opportunity to put their names in the history books.
Needless to say however, we have been in this situation before.
The two sides met back in March 2016, with a Europa League quarter-final place at stake.
The Spurs boss has since admitted that the weakened side he put out at the Westfalenstadion was in order for his strongest XI to focus on winning the Prem.
That didn’t work out too well.
Fielding Tom Carroll away from home in his biggest European game as manager was hardly a highlight for Pochettino, and something Spurs fans want to erase from their memory.
But this time, they have a point to prove.
Despite the team still being in its infancy, leaving the Champions League in such a catastrophic fashion last year was utterly deflating.
The players now have no other choice than to raise their game, in order to avoid complete and utter humiliation.
And it’s fair to say they have the tools this time to succeed. The signings of Serge Aurier and Fernando Llorente bring with it Champions League pedigree.
If stuck for options, the Tottenham boss has far more players to choose from this time around.
Wembley stadium will be rocking, and fans will be anxious. But this is the game where Spurs can put that dreaded hoodoo to bed, once and for all.