Marco Reus to miss Champions League clash against Tottenham

Tottenham Hotspur have a tall order ahead of them to try and get a result against Bundesliga leaders Dortmund on Wednesday in the Champions League. However, they have picked up a boost — Dortmund has now confirmed that leading scorer Marco Reus will miss the match with a muscle injury.

Reus, who has 17 goals in all competitions for Dortmund (13 in the Bundesliga) was subbed off last week during the club’s DFB-Pokal loss to Werder Bremen, and also missed this weekend’s draw against Hoffenheim. While we never cheer for opposition injuries, the 29-year old striker has been a huge part of Dortmund’s offense this season, and every little bit helps when Spurs are trying to get a positive result without Harry Kane and Dele Alli.

Our friends at Fear the Wall also noted that Dortmund had several players who missed the Hoffenheim match with the flu this weekend. If that virus or whatever continues on, it could compound the problem for the Germans.

But that’s not to say that Dortmund are without other weapons. In Reus’ absence, Dortmund will turn to Paco Alcácer (13 league goals), and Jadon Sancho (8 goals, 10 assists) for the bulk of their offense. Even without Reus, it’ll still be a huge challenge.

Spurs still have a great opportunity to advance — FiveThirtyEight gives Tottenham a 55% chance of making the quarterfinals. That’s still basically a coin-flip, but considering Dortmund looks likely they’re going to finish ahead of Bayern for the first time since 2012 and Spurs are missing two of their best players, it’s gratifying that the pundits still think Spurs have a fighting chance against a very good opponent.

The Champions League match kicks off Wednesday at 3:00 p.m. ET, 8:00 p.m. UK. It will be televised on TNT in the USA.