Borussia Dortmund v Spurs - Mauricio's preview

Mauricio Pochettino will tell the team to forget the first leg as we face Borussia Dortmund for a place in the quarter-finals of the Champions League this evening (8pm UK).

We lead the Round of 16 tie 3-0 after a fantastic display against the Bundesliga leaders in that first leg at Wembley on 13 February.

However, Mauricio said that result ‘is not important’ and with BVB expected to come flying out of the traps – backed by their famous ‘yellow wall’ at Signal Iduna Park – he knows we have to be tuned in from the first minute.

“Borussia Dortmund will start aggressively and try to push us to defend deeper, we need to show the same aggression and try to play in our way,” said Mauricio.

“We need to forget the first leg and be focused on trying to beat Borussia Dortmund here. That has to be our approach, to go onto the pitch and not think about the first leg, to be professional and try to win the game.”

The approach to leading a two-legged tie 3-0 from the first leg is fascinating. “You cannot go to defend,” stated Mauricio. “You need to play, to be clever... 90 minutes is a long time.

“The most important thing is that we start the game thinking it’s 0-0, that we need to win and that it’s going to be tough. At this level, Champions League, anything can happen. We have to be focused, aggressive in the way we approach the game, start well and continue for the 90 minutes.

“Of course, we are happy with the result of the first leg but we have to make sure that we compete in the same way. We know very well we need to be ready, we are going to be ready, this is a different game and we need to compete at our best.”