On a disastrous night for Tottenham, the London club were knocked out of the Champions League in the group stages with one game left to play on their comeback in the competition. It was possible that defeat in Monaco would see them knocked out but Falcao’s penalty was saved by Hugo Lloris to give Spurs hope.
After half time, strikes from Djibril Sidibe and Thomas Lamar either side of a Harry Kane penalty sentenced Pochettino’s team to a fight for the Europa League in the final match of the group stages. Lamar’s winning goal came less than a minute after Kane converted, much to the frustration of Mauricio Pochettino on the sidelines.
The White Hart Lane outfit now face a CSKA Moscow at Wembley in their final fixture of the group stages, with a point needed in order to guarantee a place in the Europa League, while defeat would see them finish bottom of their group and eliminated entirely. It could be an embarrassing affair for the club with a pitiful attendance expected in a stadium capable of holding 90,000 fans for the December clash.
It comes as a disappointment given that the Premier League club were expected to qualify in a group featuring Bayer Leverkusen, Monaco and CSKA Moscow, as they avoided many of the big clubs in the group stage draw and were among the favourites to reach the knockout stages.
Here’s how Twitter reacted to the result…
There was no shortage of criticism for the team…
https://twitter.com/JdotJames/status/801169164861837312
Many questioned Pochettino’s rotation policy…
Others were concerned by the inconsistency of the team’s performances…
The only player to avoid criticism was Hugo Lloris…
But Spurs must wave goodbye for now…
https://twitter.com/Sporf/status/801179112823984128
There’s just one more game to take care of…
https://twitter.com/SpursStatMan/status/801176543389249536
Not that opposition fans are too worried…
https://twitter.com/DeadIyEden/status/801177799029563396
Featured Image: All rights reserved by Craig Ballantyne.