The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Sorry Spurs crash out of Europe
Mourinho’s injuryhit side slump to heavy defeat in east Germany
Tottenham were unable to deliver another Champions League miracle as they were torn apart by RB Leipzig in the last 16 last night.
Shorn of key players in attacking areas, Spurs had to overcome a 1-0 firstleg deficit but slumped to a 3-0 defeat in east Germany and crashed out.
Marcel Sabitzer scored twice in the opening 21 minutes, Hugo Lloris culpable for both goals, to put the Premier League club on the brink of elimination and they were unable to reproduce their remarkable comeback from the same situation against Ajax in last season’s semi-final.
Emil Forsberg completed the rout late on with his first touch as Spurs bowed out with a whimper.
Defeat, on the back of a disappointing exit to Norwich in the FA Cup last week, leaves Jose Mourinho with no prospect of silverware this season.
He now has nine games left in the Premier League to try and ensure Tottenham are back in the Champions League next season, but even that is looking unlikely given their position in the Premier League table.
There were mitigating circumstances for this defeat given his side were missing the likes of Harry Kane, Son Heung-min, Moussa Sissoko and Steven Bergwijn.
But the way they were unable to repel Leipzig over the two legs highlights how weak they are in defence, with goalkeeper Lloris also letting them down.
The Bundesliga side, though, managed by 32-year-old manager Julian Nagelsmann, nicknamed ‘Baby Mourinho’, moved into the Champions League quarter-finals for the first time in their history.
Atalanta meanwhile are into the quarter-finals as Josip Ilicic hit four goals against Valencia to seal a 4-3 win in Spain and progress 8-4 on aggregate.
The game was the first of the competition to be played behind closed doors because of the coronavirus outbreak.
Gian Piero Gasperini’s side have now scored 28 goals in their last seven games and become the competition’s first debutants to reach the last eight since Leicester City in 2016-17.