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With a 1-0 deficit to overturn, Jose Mourinho took his dishevelled Tottenham Hotspur soldiers to Germany with a plan. The Portuguese coach has come under much fire recently for his team’s poor displays and his snarky comments regarding player performances. As for RB Leipzig, they came into the game after a 0-0 away draw with Wolfsburg, a result that keeps them third in the league, five points behind leaders Bayern Munich. Julian Nagelsmann knew that this would be a season-defining match and prepared accordingly.
It took only 10 minutes for the deadlock to be broken as Marcel Sabitzer struck a low shot from 25 yards out. He would double the team’s lead with a pinpoint header in the 21st minute. RB Leipzig would decide to strengthen their comfortable dominance with a third goal in the 87th minute as Emil Forsberg would score with his first touch on the pitch. With that commanding result, Nagelsmann's men proceeded to the Champions League quarter-finals and will be a match for any team in the competition.
Here are the hits and flops from RB Leipzig 3-0 Tottenham (4-0 agg.)
#5 Flop: Hugo Lloris
There have always been a few questions concerning the abilities of Hugo Lloris. Despite formerly being known as one of the best goalkeepers in the world, Lloris has never been an elite goalkeeper. His constant mistakes and poor shot-stopping have proven several times that he’s a liability waiting to happen. Of course, even the best of goalkeepers can have bad games as we saw with Ederson in the Manchester derby but for Lloris, it has happened far too often.
In the first shot he had to deal with, Lloris allowed Sabitzer’s averagely powered shot to slip through his fingers, despite him having a clear sight of the shot and no deflections preceding it. If that weren’t enough, the Frenchman broke the golden rule of keeping, ‘never get beaten at your near post’. Once again, the 33-year-old would be beaten by another Sabitzer effort as a header squirmed past his near post. When a team are trying to overturn a 1-0 deficit, the goalkeeper's performing poorly doesn’t help.
Also Read: Is Jose Mourinho still the special one?
#4 Hit: Dayot Upamecano
The Arsenal target showed the world why he’s highly regarded as one of the best young centre-backs in the world today. He missed the first leg and returned for this one and it didn’t look like he’d missed a step. Up against a desperate Spurs attack, Dayot Upamecano remained calm and in control of his team’s defence.
In effect, Tottenham played with a false 9 as Dele Alli, not Lucas Moura operated through the middle. This left the Leipzig defence with the conundrum of going up to press him or sitting back, Upamecano played it by ear and judged each duel expertly.
Showing the other side of his game, the 21-year-old regularly burst forward with the ball, showing how comfortable he is playing out from the back. Throughout a rock-solid performance, the defender won 6 tackles, 1 aerial duel, made 5 clearances and completed 38 passes. If the rumours are true, Arsenal will be acquiring a potential world-class centre-back to compliment their other potentially world-class centre-back in William Saliba.
#3 Flop: Serge Aurier
Many have highlighted Serge Aurier in the past as a potential weak spot in Tottenham’s defence. The Ivorian’s constant rashness and inexplicable game-changing decisions have often left him open to criticism. Last night, up against an electric Timo Werner, Aurier looked completely out of his depth. The right-back was twisted inside out and couldn’t keep track of the German’s movement.
For the second goal especially, the 27-year-old didn’t do the basics right as he failed to clear a cross-field ball. This would lead to Angelino pouncing on the poor clearance to then assist for the second goal. In a Spurs team that barely put up a fight, Aurier can’t be faulted for his effort, but can definitely be blamed for his decision making.
Even in perhaps his normally strongest part of the game, Aurier looked toothless going forward, almost as if he’d been instructed by Mourinho to play a more conservative role. In a subpar performance, Aurier could only make 1 tackle, complete 28 passes and was dribbled past once. What the stats don’t show is how long he spent chasing the shadows of Werner.
#2 Hit: Marcel Sabitzer
As captain of the night, the 25-year-old led by example with a quickfire brace in the first half. After 10 minutes of sustained Tottenham pressure, RB Leipzig seemed to click into gear and Spurs couldn’t live with them after that. The Bundesliga title contenders would take the lead through a 25-yard strike from Marcel Sabitzer. The Austrian struck it hard and low past the Tottenham goalkeeper to put his side undeservedly 1-0 up.
Ten minutes later, the 25-year-old would double his tally and his side’s lead. For this goal, the midfielder would make a bursting run into the box and powerfully angle a header into the bottom left-hand corner. By this time, the German team were well in control and carving open Mourinho's side at will. Sabitzer set the tone for his team and you could see his teammates responding to his energy in the middle. As the game wore on, he adjusted and increased his defensive work rate to ensure no spaces were unplugged in midfield. Throughout the game, the Austrian made 3 interceptions, completed 45 passes, won 2 aerial duels and scored 2 goals.
#1 Flop: Jose Mourinho
It was rumoured during the week that Jose Mourinho told the Tottenham board to prioritise either the Burney game or the Leipzig one, as he wouldn’t be able to do both. Well, he wasn’t lying as he failed in both games. When Mourinho was brought in to replace Mauricio Pochettino, there was talk of the Portuguese tactician taking Spurs to the next level, especially in terms of silverware. That’s not going to happen as Mourinho has seemingly taken the club backwards with the team experiencing their worst period of form this season.
In his two legs against RB Leipzig, Mourinho was tactically outclassed by the 32-year-old Julian Nagelsmann, a coach that represents the new age of tactics and match preparation. The 57-year-old barely put up a fight in both legs as the German team looked comfortable both home and away.
On the weekend, in typical Mourinho fashion, the Spurs manager effectively blamed Tanguy Ndombele for the team’s poor performance. Last night, Ndombele didn’t even get on the pitch, so who will he blame for this horrible performance? Perhaps, Mourinho should look in the mirror.
Also Read: Opinion: RB Leipzig are hands-down favourites to win against Tottenham
