Clinical power finishing.
That was my verdict on Dortmund’s 3-0 victory over Spurs.
That Europa League first leg was the last time I watched 90 minutes.
Dortmund attacked with thrilling speed and precision.The header by Aubameyang and the two shots by Marco Reus, were sheer quality.
Dortmund looked good enough to give Juventus or PSG a game.
Unfortunately, I’m too disorganised to find my match notes seven days later.
In our hotel in Bruges on Saturday morning I finally had time to read Friday’s Times and found the match report was written by the perceptive young Rory Smith :
Tottenham Hotspur have spent much of this season with their heads in the clouds, dreaming of the impossible, marvelling how far they have come under Mauricio Pochettino.
Last night, Borussia Dortmund afforded them a glimpse of how far they still have to go. In front of the Yellow Wall, Spurs saw what is to come. A sheer climb lies ahead.
A visit to Signal Iduna Park was supposed to serve, for Spurs, as a taste of things to come, a little sample of what life is like among the company they wish to keep, on the stage they hope to grace.
By the end, after they had been battered and bruised by Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Marco Reus and the rest of Dortmund’s swarm, it felt like something else entirely. It felt like a warning.
Pochettino might have insisted, a little ashen-faced, that his team’s fate is not yet sealed; he might have claimed he would select a side to “fight for the tie” in the second leg at White Hart Lane next week.
From three down, though, it is hard to see a way back.
Dortmund were too quick, too strong, too slick. They are on another level again, one to which, for the time being, Tottenham can only aspire.
He would not admit it, but Pochettino may not be too despondent about that. This was, without question, a rotten draw for Spurs, precisely the opponents they did not want in a competition they had — until last night — treated with the utmost respect. His team sheet offered a clue as to where it now figures in his priorities.
He made seven changes from the side that faced Arsenal.