Mourinho sets stage for Spurs
Move to Eriksen helps Tottenham rally to reach the knockout phase
Jose Mourinho is showing his old magic touch in his early days at Tottenham.
Tottenham marked Mourinho’s first home match in charge by coming from two goals down to beat Olympiakos 4-2 and reach the Champions League’s knockout stage with a game to spare. Real Madrid and Manchester City also qualified Tuesday, despite being held to home draws.
But it was Mourinho, back in the competition where he made his name 15 years ago as a surprise title-winner with Porto, hogging the limelight once again. He reacted to Spurs going 2-0 behind after 19 minutes by making an early substitution, bringing on out-of-favour playmaker Christian Eriksen who helped turn the game.
Then, after the quick thinking of a ball boy proved vital in the buildup to Harry Kane’s equalizing goal early in the second half, Mourinho went up to the young lad and gave him a hug.
This win came three days after Mourinho began his tenure at the north London club with a 3-2 win at West Ham, Tottenham’s first away victory in the Premier League in 11 months.
There are now six teams into the last16, with Paris Saint-Germain, Bayern Munich and Juventus having secured passage after four group games.
Olympiakos scored through Youssef El-Arabi and Borges
Semedo and overran Spurs, prompting Mourinho to replace defensive midfielder Eric Dier with Eriksen.
Dele Alli profited from poor defending to pull a goal back just before halftime and the ball boy rushed forward to help Serge Aurier send a snappy throw-in to Lucas Moura, who crossed for Kane to convert.
Aurier and Kane scored goals in the 73rd and 77th minutes, respectively, to clinch victory for Spurs, with Kane breaking the record of Alessandro del Piero to become the player to score 20 Champions League goals in the fewest games — 24. Del Piero managed it in 26 games for Juventus. Real Madrid 2, Paris Saint-Germain 2: Real began the match against PSG knowing qualification was secure, because Galatasaray had drawn 1-1 with Club Brugge in the early game.
Still, Madrid needed to win to keep alive hopes of finishing in first place and went into a 2-0 lead with a goal in each half from Karim Benzema.
Kylian Mbappé (81st) and Pablo Sarabia (83rd) scored to seal the draw and top spot in the group for PSG. Manchester City 1, Shakhtar 1: Man City reached the last 16 for a seventh season in a row, but Ilkay Gundogan’s 56th-minute goal was cancelled out 13 minutes later by Shaktar’s Manor Solomon at Etihad Stadium.
Shakhtar is in second place and will secure qualification if it beats Atalanta at home on Dec. 11. Atalanta is last, but now only two points behind Shakhtar after winning 2-0 against Dinamo Zagreb.