Mourinho Sees No Bright Side After Tottenham Crash To Home Leipzig Defeat
20th February 2020
Spurs could be without the talismanic duo of Harry Kane and Son Heung-min for the rest of the season through injury and looked toothless against the Bundesliga contenders.
- Jose Mourinho fears his side's season is running out of gas after an injury-hit Spurs slumped to a 1-0 defeat at home to RB Leipzig in the first leg of their Champions League last 16 tie
- Tottenham captain Hugo Lloris kept his side in the tie with a string of important saves, but he could not prevent Timo Werner from the penalty spot as the German international's 26th goal of the season gave Leipzig a lead to defend on home soil on March 10
- Tottenham upset the odds to progress past Manchester City and Ajax to reach last season's final. But it was Leipzig who looked the seasoned Champions League team in their first ever knockout tie in the competition
LONDON,
United Kingdom- Jose
Mourinho fears his side's season is running out of gas after an injury-hit
Spurs slumped to a 1-0 defeat at home to RB Leipzig in the first leg of their
Champions League last 16 tie.
Spurs could be without the talismanic duo of Harry Kane and
Son Heung-min for the rest of the season through injury and looked toothless
against the Bundesliga contenders.
"We are in a very difficult situation," said
Mourinho. "What worries me is this is going to be the situation until the
end of the season."
Tottenham captain Hugo Lloris kept his side in the tie with
a string of important saves, but he could not prevent Timo Werner from the
penalty spot as the German international's 26th goal of the season gave Leipzig
a lead to defend on home soil on March 10.
"Over the 90 minutes we deserved the win and could have
won by more," said Leipzig boss Julian Nagelsmann.
"It's only the first game today. You have to perform at
the same level in both games."
Tottenham upset the odds to progress past Manchester City
and Ajax to reach last season's final. But it was Leipzig who looked the
seasoned Champions League team in their first ever knockout tie in the
competition.
After receiving the news that Son would be sidelined by a
fractured right arm on the eve of the game, Mourinho compared his side's
prospects for the rest of the season to hanging from a fourth-floor building by
the balcony.
The hosts could easily have fallen flat on their face inside
the first 90 seconds as Leipzig amazingly passed up four chances to open the
scoring through Patrik Schick, Angelino and Werner.
"In the first five minutes we should have taken the
lead," added Nagelsmann. "Young teams can become impatient thinking
they have to score an away goal in the first leg, but they weren't like
that."
Werner could be a more frequent foe for Spurs next season
with speculation linking him to Liverpool.
However, his profligacy ensured the hosts went in level at
the break as he fired too close to Lloris with just the French number one to
beat.
Leipzig could have regretted not making the most of their
supremacy during the first 45 minutes as Peter Gulacsi saved well from Lucas
Moura and Steven Bergwijn fired the rebound wide early in the second period.
However, after grinding out wins over Manchester City,
Norwich, Southampton and Aston Villa in recent weeks despite conceding plenty
of chances, Spurs' luck ran out.
An ill-timed lunge from Ben Davies chopped down Konrad
Laimer inside the area just before the hour mark and Werner confidently
converted the resulting penalty.
Moments later only a fine save by Lloris denied Schick a
second at the end of a flowing move involving Christopher Nkunku, Angelino and
a delightful dummy from Werner to tee up his strike partner.
"If I could, I would move immediately to the first of
July with Kane, (Moussa) Sissoko, Son, Lucas, (Erik) Lamela, Bergwijn (all
fit)," added Mourinho.
"But we are on the 19th of February so we have to fight
until the end.
"One thing I can guarantee is that even with I don't
know who is playing in attack, we are going there to attack until our
limits."
The introduction of Lamela and club record signing Tanguy
Ndombele from the bench gave Tottenham a much-needed injection of creativity
for the final 25 minutes.
However, their best effort came from a set-piece when
Giovani lo Celso's powerful free-kick was turned onto the post by Gulacsi.