Tottenham 2 - 17 Bayern Munich

Hello

And what a tie this is! So much to like about this one – and so many strands of narrative too!

Can Spurs, on such a downer in the last few weeks, build on Saturday’s win over Southampton by securing the kind of European result that has been their preserve of late? It’s this kind of night that can really kick start a season, or at least set the fires alight once again. Mauricio Pochettino hasn’t become a bad manager overnight; quite the contrary. Nor have Spurs become a bad side. And Bayern ... Bayern are surely there to be defeated, and in so doing banishing many of these early doubts.

They’re going along nicely at the moment mind you, topping the Bundesliga as of the weekend. It’s a slightly fresher squad than the one that laboured to defeat against Liverpool last season, with Philippe Coutinho among those firmly involved, so you’d expect a little more zip about them here. What Spurs really don’t want is the threat of the kind of salvage operation they had to perform in last season’s group stage, much as that did not really harm them eventually. They really shouldn’t have dropped points against Olympiakos last time out; they could to with at least a draw here against opponents who won routinely enough against Red Star Belgrade.