Spurs were in the Champions League for just the second time in their history this season. They were in the title race for major parts of the last season but finally lost out in the race. However, their third-placed finish awarded them a place in the Champions League this season. Who would have imagined that Spurs’ Champions League campaign will end just after five games!
The North London club are already out of the competition after their 2-1 loss to Monaco on Tuesday night. Their final group stage game against CSKA Moscow is meaningless now. Even if they win and Bayer Leverkusen lose against Monaco, the German contingent will qualify boasting a superior head to head record. A Europa League place is the only thing left to compete for but that is scant consolation for the hard work they put in last season to finish in the top 3.
Let us take a look at the reasons why Spurs’ Champions League was such a disastrous one.
Injuries
Spurs have struggled with injury concerns since the start of the season. Harry Kane, Toby Alderweireld, Erik Lamela, Dele Alli, Danny Rose, Ben Davies, Mousa Dembele- everyone has gone down with injuries at some point of this season, some long-term and some short-term. Overall, this has affected the team’s performance, especially, Kane’s injury. The Englishman has started just two of the Lilywhites’ five Champions League games and Spurs could score just once in those three games which the striker missed.
Lack of experience
Spurs are the youngest team in the Premier League with their average squad age being just 24.8. Even their manager is just 44 and it’s only his first season in the Champions League. The lack of experience of the players and the manager hurt the North London club badly.
On the contrary, Monaco and Bayer Leverkusen have been playing in the Champions League for a long time. Pochettino is a quality manager with plenty of promise but needs to learn a lot in order to do well at such a big stage.
The Wembley factor
A change in home venue could do a lot to a team. For decades, White Hart Lane has been the home of the North London club but they had to shift to Wembley to play in the Champions League this season. Wembley has a much bigger pitch when compared to White Hart Lane and Spurs struggled to adjust to the width of the pitch. This is also a factor why the North London side failed to impress in the Champions League this campaign.
