Borussia Dortmund will be missing Marco Reus, Paco Alcacer, and more

Borussia Dortmund has been one of the great stories of European soccer this season.

Powered by Marco Reus, a rejuvenated Mario Gotze, and the youthful exuberance of Jadon Sancho among others, BVB has been an enigma. As it heads to London for a Champions League tilt against Tottenham Hotspur, however, Dortmund will be a bit shorthanded.

Okay, a lot shorthanded.

BVB will be missing Reus, super-sub Paco Alcacer, versatile midfielder Julian Weigl, and outside back Lukasz Piszczek for tomorrow's showdown with the Premier League power. That is not exactly a quartet that any team would like to be missing from an important game.

Reus has a lingering thigh injury, while Alcacer is battling a shoulder ailment. Piszczek has a foot injury and Weigl is battling the flu. For a team that had so much going right for it just a few weeks back, Dortmund has run into a string of bad luck and questionable play of late.

In addition to the injury/illness bug affecting BVB, Dortmund has not quite been up to the the standard it has established for this season. On Saturday, Dortmund conceded three goals in 12 minutes succumb to Hoffenheim for a draw, while BVB also dropped a DFB-Pokal match to Werder Bremen last Tuesday, and tied Eintracht Frankfurt 1-1 back on February 2nd.

It has not been easy for Dortmund of late and the latest rash of injuries and illnesses won't help with re-gaining the exquisite form it displayed earlier in the season.

One thing that the Black and Yellows can at least take some solace in is that Tottenham Hotspur, itself, is banged up and far from full power. The Spurs will be missing Harry Kane, Dele Alli, and Ben Davies, which should even out the paying field a bit.

As hard as it may be to imagine, Dortmund could be considered by some to be the favorite even as an away side because it may actually be deeper than the Spurs even with Reus and company missing.

Regardless, with so many players out for Dortmund, it could give the Englishman Sancho, the American Christian Pulisic, and the new-and-improved Gotze an opportunity to power BVB to an away victory.

Undoubtedly, Sancho will want to display his prowess to the home English fans, while Pulisic will want to silence the naysayers who have criticized his pending move to Chelsea for the 2019/2020 season. Gotze, as he has done all season, will want to show the world that he is much more than just the guy who scored the 2014 World Cup tournament-winning goal.

Given the absence of Reus and the rest of the crew that did not make the trip, now would be a great time for Dortmund's supporting cast to take the reigns and prove their mettle on a big stage.

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