As Pau Lopez excels at Camp Nou, what caused Tottenham failure?

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Real Betis recorded a memorable victory at Camp Nou on Sunday afternoon as they saw off La Liga leaders Barcelona by four goals to three, but they had Pau Lopez in goal to thank in part for the three points.

Lopez spent 12 months at Tottenham on loan in 2016/17 but made the bench only 10 times and failed to ever make a first team appearance, despite being a regular for Espanyol the season before.

Upon his return to Spain, he was first choice for Espanyol, Mauricio Pochettino’s former club, and then joined Real Betis on a free transfer in the summer.

Lopez commanded his box well and, despite conceding three goals, there was little he could do about any of them and also made some key saves in order to get his side over the line to victory.

Almost getting a hand to Lionel Messi’s penalty, he has established himself as first choice and was also pivotal in recent results in Europe, beating and then drawing with AC Milan.

Now also a full Spain international included in Luis Enrique’s senior squad, Tottenham fans may be wonder why Mauricio Pochettino did not see him as a better option than Paulo Gazzaniga in 2017.