Tottenham Hostspur hosted their first leg of Champions League Round of 16 tie against Redbull Leipzig last night. Spurs were favorites for the tie, but Leipzig had other plans in mind.
Spurs started without their first choice forwards, Heung-Min Son and Harry Kane, both ruled out due to injuries, causing Lucas Moura to lead the line.
Julian Nagglesman’s side had the first half under control, forcing multiple good saves from Hugo Lloris. Timo Werner had a couple of great chances which he should have scored, but failed, as the score at halftime was 0-0.
Mourinho’s men struggled throughout the course of the first half. They managed to keep only 35 percent of possession, and were lucky not to concede a goal. There were couple of good openings for Jose Mourinho’s men, with Gedson Fernandes delivering some dangerous crosses, but it were the visitors that dominated the first half.
Tottenham looked a bit more organised at the start of the second half. However, Konrad Laimer was brought down inside the box by Ben Davies in the 55th minute giving a penalty to the visitors. Timo Werner stepped up and drilled a right-footed shot into the bottom-left corner. Lloris went the right way, but couldn’t reach the ball as Leipzig took the lead.
Spurs tried their best to find the equalizer in the final half hour of the match, but failed as Leipzig won their away tie 1-0. Leipzig will host Spurs in 3 weeks’ time, having an important away goal lead. Mourinho will need to work his magic inside the Spurs’ dressing room, if his side are to reach the top 8 in the competition.
Player Ratings:
Tottenham:
Hugo Lloris- 7
Serge Aurier- 6
Davinson Sanchez- 7
Toby Alderweireld- 6
Ben Davies- 5
Giovani Lo Celso- 7
Harry Winks- 7
Gedson Fernandes- 6
Dele Alli- 5
Steven Bergwijn- 6
Lucas Moura- 5
Subs:
Erik Lamela- 5
Tanguy Ndombele- 6
Redbull Leipzig:
Peter Gulasci- 9
Marcel Halstenberg- 7
Ethan Ampadu- 8
Lukas Klostermann- 7
Angelino- 7
Marcel Sabitzer- 6
Konrad Laimer- 7
Nordi Mukiele- 7
Timo Werner- 8
Christopher Nkunu- 6
Patrik Schick- 7
Subs:
Amadou Haidara- 6
Yussuf Poulsen- NA
Emil Forsberg- NA
