Tottenham Hotspur’s UEFA Champions League dreams aren’t quite hanging by a thread, but anything less than six points from their next two matches will leave them all but dead.
Spurs and PSV Eindhoven begin a home-and-away run in Group B on Tuesday, with both sides 0-2 from matches against Barcelona and Inter Milan.
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The Premier League side showed better than its Eredivisie hosts, but that matters little as both sides hope for a double while Barca and Inter square off in Spain and Italy over the next fortnight.
Eric Dier is hopeful that Spurs’ away form can carry over to the Netherlands:
“We’ve done well away from home so far this season. We’ve had some tough away games. Last weekend at West Ham was another and we managed to get another win. We feel very good at the moment. We have to try to continue that feeling tomorrow.”
Liverpool, meanwhile, has to get off the UCL mat following a stunning late loss in Napoli. The Reds are hopeful that a pair of matches against the weakest side in the group, Red Star Belgrade, does the trick.
At Anfield for the first match, Liverpool will be atop the group if it manages a win while PSG wins or draws Napoli in France.
American winger Christian Pulisic and Borussia Dortmund open their pair of matches with Atletico Madrid as well, and the opener comes at the Westfalenstadion. The other group match sees Thierry Henry’s AS Monaco away to Club Brugge and hoping for a an almost necessary three points.
Finally, there’s the chaotic Group D, with Porto and Schalke opening Wednesday atop the group. USMNT midfielder Weston McKennie and Schalke are at Galatasaray, while Porto visits desperate Lokomotiv Moscow.
Schalke boss Domenico Tedesco has prepared his men as best he can for Turkey:
“During the training session we had soundbites from Galatasaray’s last home game playing through the Veltins Arena’s sound system, in order to give the players a taste of what to expect,” Tedesco said.
Schedule
PSV Eindhoven vs. Tottenham Hotspur — 12:55 p.m. ET
Club Brugge vs. AS Monaco — 12:55 p.m. ET
Barcelona vs. Inter Milan — 3 p.m. ET
Liverpool vs. Red Star Belgrade — 3 p.m. ET
Borussia Dortmund vs. Atletico Madrid — 3 p.m. ET
Paris Saint-Germain vs. Napoli — 3 p.m. ET
Galatasaray vs. Schalke — 3 p.m. ET
Lokomotiv Moscow vs. Porto — 3 p.m. ET
