Dortmund v Tottenham background

Borussia Dortmund and Tottenham Hotspur FC come together in what should be a spectacular UEFA Europa League round of 16 tie, having met in four friendly fixtures over the years.

Previous meetings
• The sides are locking horns for the first time in UEFA competition, but have faced off in four friendly games, which produced three Tottenham wins and a draw:

• Spurs thrashed Dortmund 4-0 during a May 1950 tour of Germany and Belgium and then beat them 2-1 in the Festival of Britain tournament the next year. The teams drew 1-1 in a pre-season friendly in Dortmund in August 2006, then met again at Feyenoord's Jubilee tournament in Rotterdam in August 2008, with Tottenham prevailing 3-0.

• Dortmund overcame Liverpool FC 2-1 to lift the European Cup Winners' Cup in Glasgow in 1966. Their overall record in 19 competitive matches against English opposition is W9 D4 L6 (W5 D3 L1 in Dortmund – W3 D1 L5 in England).

• Tottenham's heaviest European defeat came in Germany – an 8-0 loss at 1. FC Köln in the 1995 UEFA Intertoto Cup. Their record in 16 UEFA encounters with German clubs reads W9 D2 L5 (W6 D1 L0 at home – W3 D1 L5 in Germany).

• Dortmund should be warned that Spurs have won all but one of their seven home fixtures against German sides, conceding just once in 630 minutes of football against Bundesliga opponents in London.

Form guide
• Dortmund have scored 20 goals in their six European home games this term (W5 L1), their sole defeat in the process a 1-0 reversal against PAOK FC on matchday six, when their last-32 place was already secured.

• Tottenham have lost only once in eight European outings this season (W5 D2 L1) – 2-1 at RSC Anderlecht during the group stage.

• Prior to this campaign, Dortmund had not featured in the UEFA Europa League since an unsuccessful group stage foray in 2010/11. They were twice losing UEFA Cup finalists, beaten by Juventus in 1993 and Feyenoord in 2002.

• Spurs last reached the round of 16 in 2013/14, losing out to Benfica, having got to the quarter-finals the previous season. They lifted the UEFA Cup in 1972 and 1984, having earlier claimed the 1963 European Cup Winners' Cup.

Trivia and links
• The journey from Dortmund to London is a little over 500km.

• Dortmund are one of two clubs to have made it all the way from the third qualifying round to the round of 16 this term, along with Athletic Club.

• Athletic's Aritz Aduriz is the top scorer in the 2015/16 UEFA Europa League with seven goals; Spurs' Erik Lamela is his closest challenger with six.

• Dortmund have had the most shots on (59) and off target (58) in this season's UEFA Europa League, and have also hit the woodwork nine times – on four occasions more than any other team.

• Dortmund's Henrikh Mkhitaryan has hit the woodwork five times in the UEFA Europa League since matchday one – three more times than any other player.

• Dortmund midfielder Shinji Kagawa turns 27 the day of the second leg of this tie, 17 March. During his time at Manchester United FC he faced Tottenham four times without winning (D2 L2), though he scored in a 3-2 home defeat in September 2012.

• Spurs midfielder Christian Eriksen can make his 50th UEFA club competition appearance in this fixture.

• Should Dortmund capture the UEFA Europa League this season, they would become just the fifth club to have picked up all three major UEFA trophies (European Champion Clubs' Cup/UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League/UEFA Cup and UEFA Cup Winners' Cup) after AFC Ajax, Bayern München, Juventus and Chelsea FC.

• Tottenham's Son Heung-Min netted five times in his last five matches against Dortmund, with Hamburger SV and Bayer 04 Leverkusen.

• The clubs have two former players in common: midfielder Steffen Freund went to White Hart Lane from Dortmund in 1998; defender Lee Young-Pyo left Spurs for Dortmund in 2008.

The coaches
• Thomas Tuchel is in his first term as Dortmund coach after replacing Jürgen Klopp in the summer. Tuchel, 42, made his name during a five-year stint in charge of 1. FSV Mainz 05 but took 12 months out before assuming his current role.

• Mauricio Pochettino has been manager of Tottenham since summer 2014, the former RCD Espanyol and Paris Saint-Germain defender brought to London after an impressive 18 months at Southampton FC. The 44-year-old was capped 20 times by Argentina, featuring at the 2002 FIFA World Cup.