Tottenham Hotspur drew 1-1 with Eintracht Frankfurt in the first leg of their Europa League quarter-final but they produced one of their best performances in a long time.
After recovering from an awful start which saw Hugo Ekitike give Frankfurt the lead after six minutes, Spurs dominated the Bundesliga side and equalised through Pedro Porro’s clever backheel. They hit the woodwork on multiple occasions and Micky van de Ven came agonisingly close to scoring a late winner but the defender’s header bounced off his own foot and over the bar.
Some people will be understandably nervous that Spurs wasted so many good chances which they might come to regret. Head coach Ange Postecoglou even joked that “the football gods have got their eyes elsewhere” so “we are going to have to do it without them this year.”
However, there is lots of evidence to suggest that Spurs can beat their opponents in Germany next week and progress to the semi-finals. Here, The Athletic breaks down why it was such an encouraging performance.
Mad four-minute spell
Postecoglou said that Spurs “overwhelmed” Frankfurt and there was a hectic four-minute period in the second half which summed this up. Lucas Bergvall skillfully evaded two defenders before crashing a right-footed shot against the post and then sixty seconds later Kaua Santos, Frankfurt’s second-choice goalkeeper who is deputising for their injured captain Kevin Trapp, tipped Son’s shot over the bar. Rodrigo Bentancur then hit the woodwork from the resulting corner.
There have been too many games this season where Spurs have looked sluggish upfront and struggled to create chances but that was not the case on Thursday evening. Maddison started slowly but produced a wonderful assist for Porro. He also had a shot scrambled off the line in the second-half. The substitutes had an impact too as Mathys Tel and Djed Spence combined to craft an opportunity for Brennan Johnson which was almost a replica of the first goal he scored in last weekend’s 3-1 victory over Southampton. It is concerning that club-record signing Dominic Solanke has not scored since January 4 but he was still effective and played a crucial role in Porro’s goal by chasing after Son’s lofted pass.
Richarlison came off the bench in the 87th minute for his first appearance since February 6 after recovering from a calf injury. Spurs looked far more threatening upfront and Postecoglou has a wider variety of options to select from. Frankfurt’s decision to space out their substitutes by a couple of minutes towards the end of the game emphasised that they were hanging on and desperate to return to Germany with the tie level.
“We made them work hard in the first half so we knew in the second half, with our ability to break teams open, we would put them under pressure,” Postecoglou said. “It is exactly what happened and the boys did everything right — I couldn’t ask for anything more from them. We hit the crossbar three times, their keeper has made some amazing saves. We had a couple of other good opportunities as well. On any other night, we would have a comfortable victory. If we can perform like that over there, and there is no reason why we can’t, then we still give ourselves a good chance.”
Santos tips a shot over the bar (Glyn Kirk/AFP via Getty Images)
First-choice defensive unit reunited
This was the first time since Spurs lost 1-0 to Crystal Palace on October 27 that Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven, Pedro Porro, Destiny Udogie and first-choice goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario started a game together.
It means that for the last five months, Postecoglou has been unable to call upon his preferred defensive combination which helped Spurs finish fifth in the Premier League last season. It was a surprise to see Djed Spence, who has been one of their most consistent performers this year, dropped to the bench but Udogie and Porro justified their inclusion over him.
Porro popped up with a fantastic equaliser and created multiple goalscoring opportunities with his set-piece deliveries. Udogie constantly charged up and down the left wing to provide Maddison and Son with an option on the overlap.
Ekitike was quick and nimble enough to escape the clutches of Van de Ven and Romero on a couple of occasions in the first-half but they nullified his threat after the break. In the 59th minute, Van de Ven chased after Jean-Matteo Bahoya and produced a superb sliding tackle to win the ball back.
The reunion of this quintet should not be underestimated.
Rodrigo Bentancur
During the first half of the season, Bentancur and Yves Bissouma were constantly rotated in the No 6 role and it was unclear who Postecoglou preferred. Bissouma’s performances can be erratic, Postecoglou recently said he “can sometimes let the game drift by him,” while Bentancur missed multiple matches with two separate concussions and due to a suspension for racist comments he made about Son.
Over the last few weeks, it has become clear that Bentancur is the first-choice and his exceptional performance on Thursday underlined why. The Uruguay international resisted the temptation to lunge into any tackles, which he can be guilty of, and was disciplined throughout. The 27-year-old was impervious under pressure and at one stage chopped the ball past one of Frankfurt’s forwards on the outside of his own box. Bentancur’s controlled display allowed Bergvall and Maddison to push further forward.
It has taken the majority of the season, but Postecoglou has finally discovered his best midfield blend. Dejan Kulusevski can be added to the mix or utilised on the right wing depending on what each game requires. Encouragingly, Postecoglou told TNT Sports after the game that Kulusevski should return to training this weekend or on Monday and that he has a chance of featuring from the bench in the second leg.
Bentancur impressed against Frankfurt (Alex Pantling/Getty Images)
Performances in cup competitions
Tottenham’s form in the league this season has been awful. They are 14th in the table and have lost half of their games but they do have a strange ability to produce incredible results when required. They eliminated Manchester City and Manchester United from the Carabao Cup and beat Liverpool in the first leg of their semi-final tie despite suffering from a horrendous injury crisis at the time. Liverpool were at virtually full strength while Postecoglou had to start then 18-year-old Archie Gray and Radu Dragusin in central defence.
Spurs thrashed City 4-0 at the Etihad back when Pep Guardiola’s side were starting to wobble but were still second in the league. Spurs lack the consistency to compete over the course of a 38-game season but the nature of tournament football might just suit them.
Frankfurt’s only threat was Ekitike and if Spurs can limit his influence next week then they should take one step closer to reaching the final in Bilbao on May 21.
(Top photo: Glyn Kirk/AFP via Getty Images)
