At exactly 19:00 local time, (20:00 CEST), the Borussia Dortmund team took to the turf at London's Wembley Stadium, a ground they were to depart from a good four years ago as unfortunate and crestfallen runners-up in the Champions League final against Bayern Munich (1-2).

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Boris Rupert reports from London

The spectre of that evening flew with the team to London for the first Champions League encounter of the new season tomorrow evening (Wednesday night) against Tottenham Hotspur. Alongside the haunting memory of the lost Final of 2013 came the comforting spirit taken from across the two legs of the round of 16 in the Europa League one and a half years ago, which they won with aplomb.

Nuri Sahin, who was present for both events, was keen to play down their continued relevance: "What happened against Tottenham across the two games needs to be kept in perspective since Tottenham had their eyes on the league title back then and did not field their strongest team. The return to Wembley after our bitter experience there in the final has given us a real sense of pleasant anticipation for the game there tomorrow."

The UEFA Champions League – that is "the highest level you can play at in Europe", opined Peter Bosz, who made clear: "We are here to win the match tomorrow. That is our mentality going into every game." The manager is not, however, prepared to speak of a tournament defining fixture with one eye on the clubs' head to head record: "Every opening match is important."

Against England's runners-up, who have likewise collected seven points thus far (albeit from four league matches) in their domestic campaign, the defensive unit is without doubt about to be put to the test. "All of Germany seemed to be pondering during pre-season why Borussia Dortmund play such a high line and concede so many goals", suggested Sahin. BVB's defence, though, has remained water-tight in the first four competitive games of the season, without letting in one goal. "Mechanisms have been put into place", observed the key Borussia man, who continued, "and we are systematically implementing the philosophy on the pitch according to which we want to play. It would be great if we maintain our defensive discipline tomorrow as well."

While Bosz trusts his team at this level, he also said: "It is certain that we will concede two, three, or even four goals at some point. But those will be exceptional cases, as I believe these players already understand much better what I want. They have bought into the playing system and know that it works."

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That new signing Jeremy Toljan has still to get used to this way of playing may be a clue as to why the young centre-half Dan-Axel Zagadou will also play tomorrow and once again come in for injured captain Marcel Schmelzer at left-back. "I am satisfied with how he performs the role on the outside, he does it very well", said Bosz.

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Football fans can look forward to a great evening of entertainment. "We want to press high", stated Borussia Dortmund's manager. "It will be an interesting game." He demands "that we are brave, that we play football, and that we attempt to play our kind of game here at Wembley too."