Champions League: Kane delivers knockout blow to Dortmund

Borussia Dortmund 0-1 (agg. 0-4) Tottenham Hotspur
(Kane 48')

It just wasn't to be for Borussia Dortmund. Lucien Favre's side had a flurry of chances in the first half, but Harry Kane's goal shortly after the restart took the wind right out of the home side's sails.

Having lost the first leg 3-0, Dortmund were always going to have a mountain to climb. But Marco Reus looked lively early on and slowly but surely, Dortmund dominated Spurs. With the exception of one breakaway chance for Son Heung-min, it was one-way traffic for the home side.

There was no way past Hugo Lloris though, who made a string of saves to twice deny Julian Weigl in quick succesion, before the Frenchman tipped away a curling Mario Götze effort. Jadon Sancho and Paco Alcacer also tested the Spurs captain, but found no way through.

And Dortmund paid the price, in brutal fashion. Harry Kane slipped from an offside to an onside position, Moussa Sissoko threaded the pass through the defense and Kane finished with aplomb. The Englishman had not been a factor in the game up until that moment, but when he was needed, he delivered.

Dortmund worked hard to come back, but in truth the energy of the game drained away the moment Kane found the back of the net.

With European competition no longer on the schedule, Dortmund will be hoping they can get back to winning ways in the Bundesliga. For at least one half, there was enough evidence to suggest that Favre's men look ready to regain domestic momentum.

As it happened:

FULL TIME: That's it. A Harry Kane sucker punch knocked the stuffing out of Dortmund, who really should have led at the break. Our match report will be here any minute.

90+1' - May have spoken too soon there. Aurier wants more. The fullback drives down the right and whips a brilliant ball across goal. Only a flick from Pulisic stops Lamela salting the wound.

90' - Two minutes of added time. Not that anyone particularly seems to want them.

89' - CHANCE! Alcacer, played through beautifully by Bruun Larsen, should finish from ten yards but hits a tame dribbler straight at Lloris' legs to deny the home fans something to really cheer about. Sums it up really. 

86' - Kane puts another neat finish in Bürki's net but is flagged offside. The Dortmund fans in decent voice again at the end here. 

84' - Götze flicks one up for Bruun Larsen, whose volley is deflected in to Lloris' arms. 

83' - A final change for Spurs. Rose on for Eriksen. 

80' - Kane finds the overlapping Aurier with a brilliant first time lay off. The right back shovels it inside to Sissoko but the Frenchman is crowded out.

76' - Delaney's first contribution is a lovely ball in to the box that finds Pulisic in space. The American needs to make his own power on the header and can't really do it. The effort loops over the bar. Meanwhile the referee asks the VAR something about a penatly. Nothing doing.

74' - The only surprise here is that it took so long. Reus off, Delaney on.

73' - This one is all but done but the game of the night is at the Bernabeu where Ajax and Dusan Tadic are producing the sort of comeback Dortmund dreamed of. The Dutch side went 3-0 up at the Bernabeu through Tadic, who produced a brilliant assist for the second then allowed Marco Asensio to get one back before Lasse Schöne restored the three goal cushion. 

70' - Sissoko bursts clear and slips one forward to Son, who forces a corner. Alderweireld gets his head to it but can't keep it down. That's the last action of the night for Son, who is replaced by Lamela.

68' - Sancho, who has had a quiet night, tries to stand up Davies but has to go back to Witsel. His hopeful ball in is headed out by Sanchez before Vertonghen does well to intercept a through ball. Spurs' center backs have been excellent.

65' - Those changes mean three at the back for Dortmund who have a free kick in a decent position. Reus stands over it and there's an exceptional head tennis rally before Spurs get rid.

62' - Double change for Dortmund. Guerreiro and Wolf for Bruun Larsen and Pulisic.

61' - Spurs look very happy to sit deep and deny Dortmund space in the center at the moment. The home side have no real aerial threat so keep working it from side to side.

58' - Spurs fail too clear a cross and Dortmund eventually work it to Wolf on the right but he blooters it high in to the, suddenly very quiet, Südtribune. 

56' - We're just getting another look at that goal and it's really pretty shambolic from Dortmund's center backs, who both seemed to switch off. Spurs bring off Winks, who has been injured recently, for Dier, who has also been injured recently. Migth Favre give up the ghost and give Reus a rest soon?

54' - The Spurs fans are making themselves heard for the first time all night. Their side absorbed so much pressure in the first half and are now all but through. 

51' - The classic sucker punch. Dortmund give the ball away and Kane is in an offside position but cleverly drops back onside. Sissoko sees him and slips him in, Dortmund's defenders are all the wrong side and the Spurs skipper slaps it past Bürki. That's what having a top class striker does for you. Moments later he tries to lob Bürki from near the halfway line. Fair to say his confidence is up.

48' GOAL! Borussia Dortmund 0 - 1 Tottenham Hotspur (Kane 49')

48' - Straight away Götze nicks possession, Alcacer lifts a ball in to Reus and the skipper absolutely drills it across the face of goal from wide and deep in the penalty box. It looks like Guerreiro slipped, otherwise he might have reached it at the back stick. Then, a minute later, Reus pops up in a similar position on the left but this time his cross is wild and flies out of play.

46' - After a break for the players, and this poor live blogger's fingers, we're back underway.

HALF TIME: Dortmund dominated that half by every metric but the one that counts. Reus, Götze, Weigl and Alcacer all spurned chances to give them the lead but Son probably had the clearest chance of the half for Spurs and may feel he was brought down by Wolf. Still finely poised but BVB need to make their pressure count when they re-emerge.

45+2 - In to the closing stages of the half now and Spurs finally have a measure of control. Have Dortmund already missed their best chance to go through?

44' - Another save from Lloris, I make that five now, as Alcacer curls one straight at the Frenchman from the edge of the box.

43' - Winks does brilliantly to relieve some pressure and get Spurs up the field from a tricky position. The attack breaks down soon after but that's about all the visitors can muster at the minute. 

39' - Replays of that Son break do suggest Wolf had more than a little nudge on his opponent, one which sent him off balance. We do have VAR but it was not called upon there. 

37' - CHANCE! Sancho this time. The English winger is played in by Alcacer. It's not a great angle, he strikes it well enough but straight at Lloris. 

35' - CHANCES! That's not a typo, we've had four good chances in the last two minutes. First Weigl almost turned in from close range only to be denied by first Lloris and then by Davies. From the corner, Reus connects sweetly with a  volley that's deflected over before, finally, Lloris flies to his left to tip a curling Götze effort round the post. How have Dortmund not scored yet?

31' - CHANCE! Suddenly Spurs burst in to life. Eriksen takes a couple of lovely touches to release Son. The South Korean is through and takes it with the outside of his right boot as Wolf gets back to put a bit of pressure on. But it goes the wrong side of the post. Son has such a good record against Dortmund, you'd have expected him to take that.

30' - Aurier is fine. Fair to say the Dortmund fans saw through that one too.

29' - Sancho's run takes Davies inside, leaving space for Wolf but his shot is, yep, you guessed it, weak. It may even have been a cross. Either way, it was not good. On the other side of the pitch, Aurier is down injured or, just maybe, trying to waste a bit of time and take some edge out of the match.

26' - The home side have had more than 75% possession so far. But you feel they need that breakthrough to come soon before Spurs can take the sting out of it.

23' - CHANCE! So many opportunities, so little to show for it. Diallo barrels in to the area with plenty of options. He opts to pick out Götze on the edge of the box but his effort lacks any sort of conviction and is blocked. Diallo probably picked the wrong ball, Götze certainly should have made Lloris work.

21' - CHANCE! Another one for Dortmund, another one for Reus. Guerreiro cuts a smart pass back and the Dortmund captain has space. His first time shot is a little tame, hits Sanchez on the heel and balloons to safety. Reus is finding space quite easily, which is a good sign for Dortmund.

19' - Dortmund have started well, but not as well as Ajax, who now lead holders Real Madrid on aggregate after scoring two in the first twenty minutes at the Bernabeu.

16' - Alcacer gets the wrong side of Sanchez but he lifts the bouncing long ball over the bar. He was half a yard off anyway but Sanchez has not looked comfortable so far. 

13' - Dortmund get the ball in the box again but it won't quite fall to Alcacer. The pressure is really growing here, Spurs looking a little flustered at times.

11' - CHANCE! What a tackle this is from Vertonghen. The ball breaks kindly for Reus after amistake from Sanchez. The German just about to pull the trigger from eight yards out when the big Belgian lunges in to nick the ball off his toe. Any hint of mistiming would've been fatal there. The man of the match in the first leg has started brilliantly again tonight.

9' - Decent start for the hosts here, who've had all the ball and exerted a decent amount of pressure without creating a clear sight of goal. Meanwhile, in Spain...

6' - Wolf, high up the pitch on the right, buys a corner of Eriksen. Guerreiro whips it in with his left but Sissoko heads clear. Then Sancho wriggles clear in a similar position and flashes across goal before Alderweireld hacks it clear.

3' - Kane leaves Weigl in a heap deep in Dortmund's half but it looked a reasonable challenge. A scrappy start but it is loud.

1' - Dortmund's fans unveil a huge choreo of the last time they lifted the Champions League trophy in 1997 and Spurs get us underway.

20:54 Almost go time

The Yellow Wall are belting out "You'll Never Walk Alone" with the teams soon to emerge. It's always an amazing sight, no matter how many times you see/hear it. Not long now.

20:47 Pochettino expecting big test

Time for the Spurs coach to speak now.

"It’s going to be tough,” says Mauricio Pochettino to British broadcaster BT Sport. “In football you need to be aware, concentrate and focus. We need to be strong together and have good communication on the pitch. We need a good start because they’re going to push us from the beginning. We need to show that we are a strong team, show our quality and dominate.”

20:38 Favre shuffles the pack

A few surprises in the hosts' side tonigth (see 20:10) and here's Lucien Favre on them.

"We can be variable with this team. We are always offensive. Today, we know we have to score goals otherwise it'll be tricky. We have to be brave going forward, but we know that we cannot, sadly, concede."

So, simple then, just score some goals and don't concede lads. 

20:30 Warm ups underway

The stadium is filling out and the camera catches Marco Reus and Mario Götze smiling and smashing balls about in the tunnel on their way out. Both look pretty relaxed, perhaps because they've really got little to lose.

20:20 Reus on Dortmund's fans and attacking chances 

Marco Reus spoke ahead of the game about how the Südtribune at Signal Iduna Park could be Dortmund's "12th man" and how even one Spurs goal won't stop him and his teammates believing.

"The chance is there but we know that if Tottenham score we have to get five. That's difficult but we know we have the ability to do it," he said.

20:10 Attacking lineup for Dortmund

And here's Dortmund's team. Lucien Favre has little choice but to go for it tonight and has done just that. We knew Lukasz Piszczek was out but Marius Wolf is a real shock as replacement, he's more commonly seen on the right wing, or even up front. It looks like Julian Weigl will line up at center back with Abdou Diallo on the left.

Further forward, Jadon Sancho, Marco Reus, Mario Götze and Paco Alcacer all start, giving Dortmund plenty of firepower. Christian Pulisic returns form injury on the bench. Favre has opted to go all guns blazing but any Spurs goal almost certainly means curtains.

19:55 Spurs side announced

Just over an hour to go now and the visitors have named their line up. No news from Dortmund yet though...

As in the first leg,Spurs line up with five at the back, though this time Jan Vertonghen - who caused Dortmund all sorts of problems at Wembley - is at center back with Ben Davies at left wingback. Harry Winks was an injury doubt but will partner Moussa Sissoko in midfield while Christian Eriksen and Son Heung-min will buzz around Harry Kane.

19:35 Clean sheet surely a must for hosts

Dortmund's social media team have been keen to point out that their team have yet to concede at home in the Champions League this season.

They will surely have to maintain that statistic if they're to have any chance of progression. Any Spurs goal would leave BVB needing to score at least five, a huge ask for any side. 

Despite an impressive shutout record in Europe, Dortmund have kept just one clean sheet in their last eight matches. Lucien Favre has a difficult balancing act on his hands.

19:15  The slimmest hopes

If the mere scoreline isn't enough to tell you just how much Dortmund are outsiders to qualify tonight, you may enjoy this little statistical nugget. 

19:00 Kick off is coming

One particular trailer has been dominating the social media conversation today. But if you're more in to games of football than Game of Thrones, then this rousing video Spurs have just posted might be worth a look.

18:40 Form patchy for both sides

Neither of these two is pulling up any trees at the minute. Dortmund have won just once in their last seven in all competitions while Spurs have slipped off the Premier League pace with defeats to Burnley and Chelsea before escaping Saturday's derby clash with Arsenal with a point. Could make for a nervy start.

18:20 'Löw right to cull big name trio'

A bit more on the earlier news (see 16:55) that Germany will no longer call on the services of World Cup winners Jerome Boateng, Thomas Müller and Mats Hummels. Our man Jonathan Harding thinks it's the right call, at a weird time.

17:45 BVB must make history

The size of Dortmund's task tonight is demonstrated by the fact that no side has ever won a Champions League home knockout game 3-0 and then been eliminated. 

However, the German side can take some comfort in Barcelona's famous comeback from 4-0 down in 2017. The Catalans won the second leg 6-1 at the Nou Camp to progress.

17:20 Pochettino concerned about freshness

Despite his side leading 3-0 after the first leg, Spurs coach Mauricio Pochettino isn't happy with the fact that Dortmund played their Bundesliga fixture on a Friday night while his side played on Saturday.

"It's strange that no-one has said anything about that," he said ahead tonight's game. "It's impossible that one team has 24 hours more to prepare. It's massive."

The Spurs boss continued: "We need help from the FA, we need help from the Premier League.

"I don't know whose fault it is. I don't know whether it is the FA, the Premier League, the club or the TV [who] wanted the matches to be on those days."

This issue has long been a bugbear of the Argentinian and several other Premier League coaches, will it make a difference this evening.

16:55 Germany axe World Cup winners

Away from the Champions League but firmly in the realm of German football, some big news has just emerged from the Germany camp. Joachim Löw has axed Bayern Munich trio Jerome Boateng, Thomas Müller and Mats Hummels as he continues to rebuild following a shocking World Cup. More on that one here.

15:55 Impressive defensive record

Lucien Favre's side have kept three clean sheets at home in the Champions League this season, beating Monaco 3-0 and Atlético Madrid 4-0 before drawing 0-0 with Club Brugge. Dortmund conceded the fewest goals in the group stage (two) and kept the most clean sheets (five). 

15:30 Vogts backs Götze recall

Former Germany head coach Berti Vogts believes Götze is nearing a return to the national team fold. "It’s a lot of fun to watch him play right now,” said the 1974 World Cup winner. “He finds solutions and creates space. Götze is, at the very least, on the path towards returning to the national team." Götze hasn't featured for Die Mannschaft since 2017, but has reinvented himself to become a vital cog in Favre's BVB machine.

15:10 Positive record

The most recent of Dortmund's four Round of 16 ties at Europe's top table came in 2016/17. BVB lost the first leg 1-0 at Benfica but went through after a 4-0 win at the SIGNAL IDUNA PARK. The Bundesliga league leaders have a record of W3 L1 at this stage of the competition. 

14:40 Is the fat lady warming up her vocal chords?

The Premier League vs. Bundesliga bonanza kicks off Round 2 tonight. Will there be a different outcome?

14:20 Dortmund vs. Premier League counterparts

Dortmund's record in two-legged knockout ties against English clubs is W3 L2; they lost the most recent, against Liverpool in the 2015/16 UEFA Europa League quarter-finals (1-1 home, 3-4 away). 

13:55 The best news for BVB fans!

Marco Reus had scored in four successive appearances before being substituted at half-time of the cup tie against Bremen with a thigh injury; he made his comeback at Augsburg on Friday.

13:35 Spurs' fans making their presence felt in Dortmund

13:15 Turbulent 2019 for BVB

Since the turn of the year, Borussia Dortmund have been knocked out of the German Cup on penalties against Werder Bremen and seen theirlead at the Bundesliga summit cut from six to zero. With their Champions League hopes hanging by a thread can they bounce back from Friday's disappointing defeat to Augsburg?

12:50 Dortmund have the firepower

There's no doubting that Dortmund have the firepower capable of turning this tie on its head. The Bundesliga leaders have scored 53 goals in 17 home games so far this season, but perhaps more importantly, BVB have scored three or more in 12 of those encounters. Could it be a case of lucky 13 tonight? 

12:30 Favre still believes

Talking in his pre-match press conference, Lucien Favre refused to wave the white flag. "We know" it's tough, but you never know," said the Dortmund head coach. "Of course, the most important thing is to produce a top performance. Anything is possible. We have to play very cleverly."

12:15 These two have previous!

Rewind three years and Dortmund fans would have had fonder memories of meeting Tottenham. In the Europa League Round of 16 in 2016, Dortmund won 5-1 on aggregate, including a 3-0 win on home soil. Reus netted twice in that game and underlined the pivotal factor coming into tonight's game: "We need a top performance, but above all we have to believe we can do it."

12:00 Never underestimate BVB at home!

In 2013 Malaga thought they had booked their spot in the Champions League semi-finals when Dortmund scored twice in added time to rewrite history. Could we see similar dramatics tonight?

11:45 Dortmund face an uphill struggle

11:30 Welcome to DW's live blog!

The SIGNAL IDUNA PARK has witnessed some magical evenings down the years and another will be neccessary if Borussia Dortmund are to reach the UEFA Champions League quarter finals. 3-0 down from the first leg of their tie against Tottenham, BVB have not given up hope, but will need to put a poor patch of form behind them if they are to make the impossible, possible.