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da dobrowin： Tottenham’s 1-0 defeat at their new stadium was described by Mauricio Pochettino as “painful” as he reflected on his side’s semi-final loss to Ajax on Tuesday night. Despite the poor home result coupled with the Dutch side’s wonderful performance, there remains a huge hurdle for the Eredivisie leaders to cross that they’re yet to face in this wonderful campaign of theirs.
The Chalkboard
Spurs hosted Ajax at their shiny new stadium with real hope that they could reach a Champions League final.
After thirty minutes though, the tie could have been over with Ajax 1-0 up thanks to Donny van de Beek giving his side the lead, however many chances were missed to make the result more convincing.
An unfortunate injury to Jan Vertonghen encouraged Pochettino to switch from a 3-4-3 to a 4-2-3-1 with Moussa Sissoko in the heart of midfield improving his side dramatically as the game went on.
Despite the boost that came with Frenchman’s presence, Spurs couldn’t fashion any real clear-cut chances and travel to Amsterdam on the back-foot.
Uncharted territory
There is real hope for Tottenham, though, besides the fact the gap is only one goal. Ajax will enter this second leg facing two things they’ve never had to do before in this impressive Champions League run: firstly, play the second leg at home, and secondly, defend a first leg lead.
Some will feel Tottenham are as good as out having seen Ajax outplay the North Londoners in their own backyard after registering incredible results at Juventus and Real Madrid as well. However, for all their wonderful attacking intent and intricate football in their previous rounds, the Dutch side were ultimately forced to play on the front foot after poor results in their first legs, both at home.
Despite impressive displays, Erik ten Hag’s young group were beaten 2-1 at home by the competition’s champions Real Madrid and were held to a 1-1 draw by the Italian giants – two results that would have seen them go through had Ajax not performed in the reverse fixture.
It’s going to be fascinating to see how the likes of Frenkie De Jong, Matthijs de Light and David Neres approach the second half of this tie; whether they’ll attack and dominate, or whether they’ll protect their lead knowing Spurs need to score and will undoubtedly come forward themselves.
For the first time, Ajax find themselves with a decision to make about how to approach this game, whereas in previous rounds, the second leg task has been somewhat handed to them, with no option but to play expansively and go for the win.