Tottenham travel to Marseille on Tuesday night, knowing that a draw will be enough to see them into the knockout stages of Europe's premier club competition. Marseille need to win to reach the knockout stages for the first time since 2012.
Spurs will enter the Stade Vélodrome without their coach.
Antonio Conte was shown a red card during last week's draw with Sporting Lisbon for his reaction after an injury-time goal was disallowed. He is serving a touchline ban.
Tottenham admit that Conte's exclusion has made preparation more difficult.
"We have to work on the strategy and this can become complex," said assistant manager Cristian Stellini.
"It's a totally different world because normally the days before the game. Antonio will do all his preparation himself."
Perhaps more significant than that theoretical absence will be the real presence in the opposition ranks of some old friends from Arsenal.
Marseille's Alexis Sanchez, Matteo Guendouzi, Nuno Tavares and Sead Kolasinac have all done time at Tottenham's London rivals.
Old friends are best
Chilean Sanchez lost just one derby between the sides in seven meetings.
"Beating Spurs every time was a great joy," Sanchez told reporters.
"It was very special and those are memories that I hold dear to my heart," he added.
Marseille will reach the next round if they win the fixture.
"Every single player has motivation to play and win," Sanchez said.
"We all want to bring the victory back," he added.
French sports daily L'Equipe gives the southern French side today's front cover, and the encouraging headline: "It's within reach".
Spurs won the London leg in September 2-0.
And their current third place in the English top flight will do nothing to harm group confidence, even without Conte howling non-standard Italian from the sideline.
Three things to ensure a Marseille victory
L'Equipe says Marseille have to do three things to win.
They have to stop Harry Kane from scoring. They have to stop visionary midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur from giving Kane the ball in striking positions. And Marseille have to score themselves. Simple, really.
Spurs are not a great side, say the L'Equipe analysts.
Not much more than 50 percent possession in the Premier League, worse in Europe. They defend deeply, and use Kane and Heung-min Son to spearhead rapid counter-attacks.
Marseille managed to maintain the pressure for the first 45 minutes of the London meeting. Then they had a man sent off. They'll have to do better on Tuesday night.
As for the goal that Marseille need if they’re to win, L'Equipe is equally lucid.
Spurs' defensive organisation and tendency to pull back when they're not in possession leaves then open to long, accurate strikes. As Manchester United recently showed in the championship. Or Marseille can attack the flanks, decidedly shaky in the Sporting Lisbon clash which cost Antonio Conte his seat in the dugout.
It's certainly within reach.
