The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Spurs finally end Wembley hoodoo as Foxes thrashed by Porto
Tottenham’s winless Wembley run is over but their Europa League campaign has just begun after Mauricio Pochettino’s men sealed a 3-1 win over CSKA Moscow last night.
CSKA striker Alan Dzagoev gave the visitors a surprise early lead but goals from Dele Alli and Harry Kane put Spurs in front at half-time before an Igor Akinfeev own-goal completed a comfortable victory.
Tottenham’s hopes of reaching the Champions League last 16 had already vanished but this result means they finish third in Group E and will now drop into Europe’s second tier tournament.
It also ends the club’s miserable sixgame losing streak at Wembley, where they will continue to host games in the Europa League and, more importantly, are due to play all their home fixtures next season.
Wembley has proven the undoing of Spurs’ Champions League campaign, with consecutive defeats to Monaco and Bayer Leverkusen proving ultimately fatal to their hopes of progress, but at least this dominant display will offer some encouragement they can eventually make the place feel like home.
The attendance of 62,034 was more than 20,000 down on the 85,512 – a record for an English club at home – that turned out to watch Spurs lose to Leverkusen under the iconic arch but perhaps higher than many had predicted given the circumstances.
They may struggle to attract similar crowds in the Europa League, which has proven so difficult to balance with the Premier League in recent seasons and where the team have failed to go past the quarter-finals in any of their last eight attempts.
Meanwhile Borussia Dortmund came from two goals down to secure a 2-2 draw with Real Madrid at the Bernabeu and win Group F.
Legia Warsaw, beaten 8-4 by Dortmund last time out, leapfrogged Sporting Lisbon to qualify for the Europa League thanks to a 1-0 win.
Juventus finished as winners of Group H thanks to a 2-0 win over Dinamo Zagreb, who became just the third team to fail to score during the group stage. It will be Sevilla who join Juve in the last 16 after holding Lyon to a goalless draw in France.