Tag Archives: Tottenham
Tottenham lost 0-1 in the first round of 1/8 Champions League
He played on home field, Tottenham runner-up lost to Leipzig 0-1 in the first round of 1/8 Champions League on February 19.
The only goal came in the first 15 minutes of the second half. Left-back Ben Davies made a mistake, before illegally stopping Konrad Laimer in the penalty area. Referee Cuneyt Cakir immediately pointed to the 11m mark. VAR team agrees with this decision. In a series of brainstorming matches, Timo Werner finished exactly, bringing the victory for Leipzig right on the pitch of Tottenham.
The goal is a reward for what Leipzig has been offering since the beginning of the match. They entered the game better, having four finishes in the first 10 minutes, in which a ball hit the post after leaving Angelino’s leg. “Rooster” kicks hard, to block the excitement of the visitors but failed. Hugo Lloris constantly worked, and repeatedly denied the efforts of Werner striker – Patrik Schick. However, until the challenge on the 11m mark, the Tottenham captain gave up.
After taking the advantage, Leipzig dropped the squad to low to preserve the gap. They accepted to give the game to the home team and only had two more finishes in the remaining 30 minutes. Jose Mourinho’s army is on the rise, but mostly relying on fixed situations to turn things around. Their best chance came in the 72nd minute, when Giovani Lo Celso took a beautiful free kick from about 25m. Goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi gently touched the ball, sending it to the post.
Lacking both the best strikers, Harry Kane and Son Heung-min, Jose Mourinho arranged a 4-4-2 layout, with the main strikers Dele Alli and Lucas Moura. Last season, Moura excelled in this position, culminating in a hat-trick against Ajax in the semi-final second leg, helping Tottenham win backwards. The intention of the “Special One” is to use fast, direct counter-attacks, when Leipzig accrues, in order to maximize the speed of Moura.
The performance in the first half was exactly as Mourinho predicted. Leipzig, with full of mighty soldiers, actively controlled the ball with three central midfielders. Tottenham avoided confrontation in the middle and always sought to develop the ball to the front lines as quickly as possible.
Losing 0-1, Tottenham has much work to do in the second leg after three weeks. In the last few seasons, the upstream in the Champions League knockout stages, after losing the first leg, is not uncommon. It was the “Rooster” fans who tasted that feeling last season, when Mauricio Pochettino’s teachers and students eliminated Ajax in the semi-finals.
Eriksen is the most valuable player in Serie A
Christian Eriksen quickly surpassed Dybala and Ronaldo to take the number one spot, after switching from Tottenham to Inter.
According to Transfermarkt transfer pricing website, Eriksen is currently worth $ 105.5 million. This is the highest level for a player in Serie A today, more than 100 million of Dybala (Juventus) and 94 million of Lautaro Martinez (Inter).
Matthijs De Ligt, Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus), Kalidou Koulibaly (Napoli) and Romelu Lukaku (Inter) came in fourth with 88 million. Followed by Sergej Milinkovic-Savic (Lazio), Miralem Pjanic (Juventus) came in eighth place with 82 million, and Marcelo Brozovic (Inter) ranked tenth with 70 million.
Transfermarkt’s calculation of transfer value is based on age, style and future development potential. Accordingly, at a ripe age and at 27, Eriksen is one of the top players in the world. Ronaldo has a more outstanding performance, but is underestimated because he is about to turn 35.
Inter only cost about 22 million to buy Eriksen. Tottenham sold him for a much cheaper price than the value because there was only half a year left on contract. If waiting until the summer of 2020, the English club will have to leave Eriksen on a free transfer.
After arriving at Inter, Eriksen signed a four-and-a-half-year contract. The Danish midfielder receives the top salary in Serie A with about $416,000 per week.
The early purchase of Eriksen also proves Inter’s determination in the Serie A 2019-2020 race. In the Top 10 Serie A value players, Inter and Juventus all have four positions.
Juventus is leading Serie A with 51 points after 21 matches, three more than Inter. Lazio ranked third with 46 points, but played less than one match. The remaining 17 laps are expected to have more interesting developments with the three horse race.
After the Champions League final in early June, Eriksen sent a message to Tottenham that he wanted a “new challenge”. The Danish midfielder has played six seasons for the north London team and has only one year left to sign. This is the time Tottenham needs to sell before it is at risk of losing.
In six seasons at Tottenham, Eriksen has not won a title. The team twice reached the final, but lost in the 2014-2015 League Cup and the 2018-2019 Champions League.
In the opposite direction, Tottenham aimed Argentine midfielder Giovani Lo Celso of Real Betis as Eriksen’s replacement.
