Bayer Leverkusen skipper Lars Bender knows that his side must look to beat Tottenham Hotspur in their next Champions League group stage fixture, but has dubbed the task "huge".
An injury time goal for Monaco at the Stade Louis II saw Leverkusen denied their first group stage victory, with the Bundesliga outfit having to make do with a 1-1 draw.
Leverkusen currently have two points and sit third in the group, one point behind Spurs, while Monaco are top on four points. And with Monaco having back to back fixtures to come against bottom placed CSKA Moscow, they could be in a commanding position by the time Leverkusen have played Spurs home and away.
Bender feels everything will depend on his side's clashes with Spurs and was quoted as saying by German daily Bild: "Now everything is at stake against Tottenham, but we can build upon the work in Monaco – in the group we are fully competitive."
But Bender is pulling no punches over the difficultly of locking horns with Spurs in Leverkusen on 18th October, adding: "It is a huge task."
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While Leverkusen were drawing in Monaco, Spurs came away with a valuable 1-0 win over CSKA Moscow in Russia.
Mauricio Pochettino's men will now be targeting a minimum of four points from their home and away clashes with Leverkusen to put themselves in pole position to qualify for the last 16.
