A mixture of tired legs; a small squad and a general lack of desire cost Spurs in their home tie of this season’s Champions League semi-final.
Ajax deserved their well-worked goal after playing some brilliant football in the first half. The young Ajax side came to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in the same way that they went to the Bernabeu and Allianz, without fear and the belief that they can win.
Spurs had to re-shuffle their set up from a back three to a diamond in midfield and a back four. This seemed to improve Tottenham’s control of the ball in midfield with thanks to the introduction of Moussa Sissoko. Even during their bright spells on either side of half time, Spurs didn’t have that final pass to trouble Onana. The return of Heung-Min Son for the second leg will be more than welcomed by Spurs but they still have it all to do in Amsterdam next Wednesday.
Here’s how we rated the Spurs players performances:
