Tottenham Hotspur were smashed last night in Germany by Red Bull Leipzig. On the other side, Atalanta continued its magical Champions League journey. In short, that is the latest news from the most prominent soccer competition in the world this Tuesday.
Tottenham’s Catastrophy
The Spurs hoped that they might repeat the miracle from Amsterdam last year once they made a three-goal comeback against Ajax, and progressed to the Champions League finals. However, the English side experienced one heavy beating in Germany.
The final result was 3-0, and the Bulls pretty much won this one routinely. Jose Mourinho stated that he has nothing to bad to say about his players, who gave their best in this matchup.
“We made mistakes and mistakes that we analyzed in previous matches. Sometimes it’s just when you don’t have more to give. I cannot ask more from them,” said the Portuguese.
Also, Mourinho mentioned all the problems his Spurs had, underlining injuries as the pivotal factor for the majority of Tottenham’s failures during this campaign. Right before the game, the Special One heard the news that his defender Sanchez injured during the warm-up. It was something that affected all of his tactics, he said.
On the other side, the Germans rebuffed the first push of the guests in the early minutes, and through Marcel, Sabitzer struck twice in the 10th and the 21st minute. It was a knockout from which the guests couldn’t recover. After that, the home team lowered the tempo of the match, and practically didn’t want to play too much.
Three minutes before the end, Leipzig once again netted, only this time it was Emil Forsberg.
Atalanta Keeps Smashing
We’ve seen seven goals at empty Mestalla. Coronavirus measures were imposed, but still, tens of thousands of fans gathered in front of the stadiums and supported the Bats. However, that wasn’t enough because Atalanta won this leg too, 4-3.
Again we had a chance to see one of the deadliest attacks in the world, led by the superb Josip Ilicic, who netted four times.
The Slovenian became only the fourth player in the history of the Champions League to score four goals in the knockout stage. Before him, those guys were Lionel Messi, Mario Gomez, and Robert Lewandowski.
Still, he is the only one who achieved that on the road, and at the same time, the oldest one with 32 years and 41 days.
“Atalanta aren’t a surprise any longer. We’re doing great things and want to carry on. We want to show we deserve to be here and improve day by day,” said Ilicic.
He scored in the 3rd, 43rd (both from penalties) 71st and 82nd minute. On the other side, Kevin Gameiro recorded a brace, and Ferran Torres added one goal to his tally.
On Wednesday, we have two super-derbies. Liverpool awaits Atletico Madrid at the Anfield and chases a 0-1 deficit from Spain. Meanwhile, PSG plays at home against Borussia Dortmund in front of an empty Parc des Princes. The Saints have a 1-2 deficit from the first leg.
