Tottenham dominated, losing 3-1 in dead rubber against Bayern

Ripped open like a bag of Maynards Wine Gums, Tottenham’s lack of experience showed against a lively and dominant Bayern Munich side. 

The 3-1 loss could have been a lot worse. Spurs mustered a single corner kick, such was the emphatic nature of Bayern’s territorial and possession dominance.

Bayern Munich’s venomous attack looked threatening every time they had the ball in the final third, which happened a lot. Hitting the post on three occasions, Spurs had trouble getting anywhere near the ball. Although he successfully slid a few times to break up dangerous Munich attacks, Danny Rose endured yet another miserable performance.

Unable to string many passes together, Tottenham were pressed back and on their heels for the duration. Contain and prevent was the obvious game plan. Based on Spurs’ personnel, it would have been aspirational to hope for anything else. A case of damage limitation, Tottenham were clearly outgunned in the centre of the park.

Philippe Coutinho dominated proceedings, pulling the strings while unleashing a howitzer in the first half that, had it not been for an acrobatic fingertip save from Paulo Gazzaniga, would have increased the home side’s lead. He eventually got his goal with a seeing-eye shot from the top of the box. Moussa didn’t close down nearly fast enough while Eriksen didn’t even attempt to make a challenge.

Eric Dier captained his inexperienced side and was sluggish throughout. He spurned possession repeatedly and lacked the agility and pace required to keep tabs on a lively Bayern midfield.

It looked as if Mourinho also left Christian Eriksen at home by the Dane’s abject, indifferent performance. He and Giovani Lo Celso did not help Dier’s cause. At least Lo Celso made an effort defensively. Eriksen jogged around the park like he is physically unable to accelerate past first gear. He made one good pass to Son at the death but was terrible otherwise.

Employed on the left-wing, Ryan Sessegnon was a bright spot for Spurs. While he didn’t see much of the ball (nor did the rest of his teammates), he scored a wonderful goal and was productive with every touch. Can’t wait to see how we reacts to playing with senior players like Harry Kane, Dele Alli and Son Heung-Min. That is a truly exciting prospect.

At least we can look forward to seeing our top side take to the field in the knockout stage because it’s clear, based on today’s abject outing, our reserve team isn’t ready for this type of occasion.