UEFA Champions League
SPURS ARE LIKE ‘A GUN WITHOUT BULLETS’, LAMENTS MOURINHO
Jose Mourinho has refused to write off Tottenham’s hopes of reaching the Champions League quarter-finals after their 1-0 home defeat by RB Leipzig on Wednesday night, insisting that his team’s spirit will give them a chance of overcoming their selection crisis in attack.
Spurs could be without Son Heung-min and Harry Kane for the rest of the season, leaving them desperately short of options, and they played without any strikers against the Bundesliga outfit.
The visitors dominated the first leg of their last-16 tie from start to finish. But with only a second-half penalty from Timo Werner separating both sides, Mourinho feels his team can mount a comeback when they visit Leipzig for the reverse fixture on March 10.
“1-0 is 1-0,” the Spurs manager said. “It is not 10-0. The result is open. It is as simple as that.
“We wouldn’t be the first team to lose 1-0 at home and to win the tie away. Why shouldn’t we do it?”
While the Portuguese was forced to use Lucas Moura as a makeshift striker and had to throw on a barely fit Erik Lamela, his only attacking player on the bench, he praised his players for coping manfully.
Highlighting his team’s paucity in attack, he said: “This is our situation, it’s like going to a fight with a gun without bullets.
“Lamela, do you know how many training sessions he had with the team? Zero. Direct from injury to 20 minutes of a game in the Champions League.
“Lucas and (Steven) Bergwijn, what you saw in the end were two very tired players.
“The thing that keeps me confident is the spirit, the mentality of my players. We are in a very difficult situation so I am so, so proud of the players. What worries me is this is going to be the situation until the end of the season.
The next match against Leipzig, the one thing I can guarantee is that, even if I don’t know who playing in attack, we are going there to fight.”
Mourinho also sought to play down Dele Alli angrily throwing a water bottle and one of his boots to the turf after being taken off midway through the second half.
“He was angry with his performance, not with me,” he said.
“I took him off and the team improved.”
With Kane and Son out for the second leg, Leipzig will be favourites to reach the quarter-finals for the first time in what is only their second foray into the competition.
However, coach Julian Nagelsmann believes Spurs, even if weakened, are not a team to be taken lightly. He was also slightly disappointed not to have taken a bigger lead to Germany as “we could have won by more”.
Werner, who now has 26 goals in all competitions this term, agreed with his boss, saying: “There’s still a lot to do in Leipzig.
“Tottenham is a good team, they showed last year (by reaching the final) that mentally, they can come back and we have to do the same like today.”
In Milan, debutants Atalanta hammered Valencia 4-1 in the first leg to take a giant step towards the last eight of the competition.
THE GUARDIAN
UEFA Champions League
David strikes as Lille end Real’s long unbeaten run
A first-half penalty earned Lille a shock 1-0 home victory over holders Real Madrid in the Champions League group phase on Wednesday, ending the 15-times European Cup winners’ 14-game unbeaten run in the competition.
Jonathan David converted from the spot three minutes into first-half stoppage time to hand Real, who had not lost in their previous 36 matches in all competitions, their first defeat since January.
The result put Ligue 1 side Lille on three points from two games in the new format of Europe’s premier club competition.
Real, who won their opening match against VfB Stuttgart, are also on three points.
“On the penalty, I try to focus, to keep calm to take a good shot but I’m confident when it comes to taking penalties,” David said. “It has not sunk in yet but it’s a memorable night.”
Real keeper Andriy Lunin said his team had lacked their usual aggression.
“It’s difficult to analyse right after. (We lacked) aggression, creativity, in the end, what we always have,” he said.
“To fight a bit more. In the second half we showed more desire, but in the first half we were worse, that’s obvious. We want to win because we know what colours we’re playing in. But that’s OK. Courage, keep working and prepare for the next game.”
Carlo Ancelotti’s side started with Kylian Mbappe, who joined from Ligue 1 champions Paris St Germain in June, on the bench after the France captain picked up a muscle injury last week.
Real’s Vinicius Jr. had the first chance with a low shot in the sixth minute as the visitors controlled the pace and the second came when Endrick’s close-range attempt was blocked by Lucas Chevalier.
Lille went close to opening the scoring after 26 minutes when Andriy Lunin made a spectacular double save to deny David, first from the forward’s header, then by tipping away the Canadian’s follow-up shot.
Their relentless pressure paid off in stoppage time when Eduardo Camavinga handled Edon Zhegrova’s free kick.
A VAR review ensued and David confidently converted the resulting penalty.
The hosts continued to apply pressure in the second half, refusing to sit back and wait as Real enjoyed possession, cutting off the supply to England midfielder Jude Bellingham.
Ancelotti sent Mbappe and Luka Modric on to replace Endrick and Eder Militao and Lille survived a late Real onslaught to hang on for the victory.
-Reuters
UEFA Champions League
Ancelotti makes no excuses after Real’s shock defeat at Lille
Defending champions Real Madrid failed to show the best version of themselves in a shock 1-0 Champions League defeat at Lille on Wednesday and must accept the criticism that comes their way, manager Carlo Ancelotti said.
Lille pressed relentlessly and took the win courtesy of a Jonathan David penalty in first-half stoppage time to hand Ancelotti’s team their first defeat in all competitions since January.
Real Madrid – record 15-times Champions League winners – have three points after two matches following their opening win over VfB Stuttgart.
“Everything was pretty bad. We did badly with the ball, although the team was quite compact in the first half, it was difficult for us to recover the ball, it was difficult for us to make transitions,” Ancelotti told reporters.
“We tried to be a little more aggressive, but it was difficult for us. So… We have to look at things with a cool head, not throw everything away. But obviously we have to improve.
“I am very sincere. The criticism for today’s game is fair, correct and we have to accept it because it is like that. We have not shown a good version in this game.”
Ancelotti said Lille “deserved” to win despite Real’s improved showing in the second half of the match.
“It was difficult for us to get into the game at the level of intensity, at the level of duels, at the level of clarity of play,” the Italian added.
“Obviously, the game could have been tied because we had opportunities at the end, but it wasn’t deserved.
“So we have to learn, as it happened the last time we lost a game, learn from what we have to improve, which is quite clear. I think it’s not very complicated.”
Real, who are second in the LaLiga standings with 18 points, next host third-placed Villarreal on Saturday.
-Reuters
UEFA Champions League
Lookman shines as Atalanta outclass Shakhtar
Ademola Lookman scored one goal and was heavily involved in the other two to drive Atalanta to a 3-0 win over Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League on Wednesday as the Italians outclassed their Ukrainian opponents in Gelsenkirchen.
Atalanta have four points from two games, having held Arsenal to a 0-0 draw in their opening match, and Shakhtar remained on one point, after they played out a scoreless draw in the first game against Italian side Bologna.
Atalanta went ahead in the 21st minute when Lookman curled a cross into the area which found Berat Djimsiti in front of goal and he controlled the ball before poking it past the keeper.
Atalanta doubled the lead a minute before the break when Sead Kolasinac squared a pass to Lookman in the middle of the area and the Nigerian struck a first-time shot through the legs of his marker Marlon Gomes into the bottom corner of the net.
The game was all but over as a contest three minutes into the second half after Lookman played the ball out wide to Davide Zappacosta and his cross into the six-yard box was headed home by Raoul Bellanova.
At 3-0, Lookman, who also hit the crossbar in the first half, was taken off with over half an hour to play, his work done for the night and the tie ended with the same scoreline as the last time the sides met in the Champions League in 2019.
-Reuters
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