Yesterday evening Tottenham Hotspur welcomed Ajax to our new White Hart Lane Stadium for the first leg of our Champions League Semi-Final clash.
Funny that, our new Stadium really has become the only place to watch Champions League football in London this year and we’ve gone further than many imagined in the competition.
Sadly, that was where the gloating ended. An incredibly bright start by the Dutch side, added to an incredibly poor start from Spurs saw us behind in the game 15 minutes in. With the formation seeming to be wrong with three at the back, in many ways manager Mauricio Pochettino’s options were limited with our injuries at the moment.
We did improve before the break though as Poch was forced into substituting Jan Vertonghen after a clash that looked to leave him concussed and the introduction of Moussa Sissoko began turning things in our favour.
We were wasteful in the second period, yet far improved and despite their initial dominance, we edged the stats by the fulltime whistle.
What counts though is 1-0, and with the knowledge that Sonny will come back into contention and maybe so can others, surely those that were awful on the night will only improve.
Bottom line is the tie is still alive, albeit difficult, but a few games into the competition this year we were never going to qualify for the Group stage were we.
Speaking to the BBC following the fulltime whistle, Poch said of the halftime stage.
“In the first half we did not start in a good way. Ajax showed more energy, it was difficult for us to play. It was our lack of energy. After we conceded the goal – 25 to 30 minutes in – we started to be in the game. Moussa Sissoko provided good energy. Second half we pushed them and tried to create chances. It was an even game in the second half. We are alive. It’s only 1-0 down. We need to believe we can go there and win the game.”