#2 Tottenham’s European nights at Wembley go horribly wrong
When Tottenham finished third in last season’s Premier League and qualified for the Champions League for the first time since 2010/11, the curious decision was made to have them play home European games at Wembley rather than at White Hart Lane.
The allure was obvious – fit more fans in, use the bigger stadium and – I assume – make more money, but it couldn’t have backfired more spectacularly.
Drawn in what looked like a relatively soft group alongside Monaco, Bayer Leverkusen and CSKA Moscow, Spurs’ problems began quickly as their first game at Wembley ended in a 2-1 defeat to the French league’s runners-up after they went 2-0 down early on.
An away win in Moscow and a draw at Leverkusen helped matters, but those games were followed by another Wembley loss, this time to Leverkusen after another uninspiring performance. A loss away to Monaco eliminated them from the tournament although they did pick up a win at Wembley over CSKA.
Spurs then moved into the Europa League, but a 1-0 away loss to unfancied Belgians Gent was followed with a feeble 2-2 draw at Wembley, sending Tottenham’s European dreams up in smoke.
If they want to progress in next year’s Champions League, Tottenham’s Wembley form – assuming they continue to play there – must improve.
