This season in Europa League Tottenham Hotspur have played three qualifiers, three official matches and have three matches left for sure, so where are we.
Tottenham Hotspur did not take the easy path to get to the top of Group J, yet that is where Spurs sit half-way through the Group Stage of the 2020-21 UEFA Europa League. With three games for sure to go and hopefully more, what has been the European story thus far for Tottenham Hotspur.
Tottenham Takes the Long Road
Spurs knew it the moment the FA Cup ended in August, the path to European glory was going to be extra-long. After again finishing in front of crosstown rival Arsenal in the Premier League, Tottenham were pipped to the automatic qualifying position in Europa League when the Gunners won the FA Cup. Instead of being drawn directly in at the Group Stage, Tottenham Hotspur began their campaign with two games every week for the first month.
Over the course of three weeks from Thursday September 17 through Thursday October 1, Tottenham went on a little European tour which started in Bulgaria, went through North Macedonia, and ended in north London. The first match Lokomotiv came on the back of Spurs opening weekend lost to Everton.
Whatever was wrong with Tottenham at Everton continued with the team into Bulgaria as Spurs were poor and were looking at disaster and total embarrassment when Georgi Minchev scored at 71 minutes giving Lokomotiv Plovdiv the lead. Two red cards, a Kane penalty, and a Tanguy Ndombele finish later and Tottenham were advancing to the third round qualifier winning 1-2.
In the third-round qualifier Tottenham started much better with Erik Lamela putting Spurs up on Lokomotiv Plovdiv in the first five minutes off a Son Heung-Min assist. Tottenham were not clinical, however, and Plovdiv hung around until the tied the score a little before the hour on a worldie, rocket from Valmir Nafiu.
The game was not tied long as less than 10 minutes later Son was controlling and scoring on a rebound from a Lucas Moura effort. Then less than 10 minutes after that Son was feeding Harry Kane with a nice cross, which Kane hammered home with his head for the final 1-3 score. The third round win, pushed Tottenham into the final Playoff Round with the Group Stage on the line.
With the Group Stage position – and the big cash reward that comes with it – on the line, Tottenham again started well, with Harry Kane finishing a Ben Davies cross in the first two minutes of the match to put Spurs out front. Tottenham were again pegged back, much quicker this time, with another all-world rocket scoring off a poor turnover from Spurs.
Spurs were having none of this hope for Maccabi Haifa thing, however, as Lucas Moura scored only about three minutes later before a Lo Celso brace, put Spurs up 4-1 at the half. Maccabi Haifa struck first in the second to cut the deficit to 2 at 4-2, but Harry Kane scored a second half brace to get him the hat-trick and Dele Alli finished scoring with a late penalty kick. The 7-2 final score line may have flattered Tottenham, but it was clear in this instance they had learned something from the prior two matches, although it may not have carried over to the group stage.
Tottenham in the Group Stage
Tottenham were drawn into Group J, avoiding any kind of Group of Death and placed in what was a winnable group with Ludogorets, LASK, and Royal Antwerp. The first match of the Group Stage was against LASK at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. It was the first start for Carlos Vinicius and the young Brazilian on loan from Benfica did well.
Vinicius had two assists in the 3-0 win, as Spurs cruised after Carlos had put fellow Brazilian Lucas Moura in on goal within the first 20 minutes. Gareth Bale – making his first start back with Spurs – seemed to get his first goal back, but his shot was deflected into the net, making it a Andres Andrade own goal instead. A late third from Son after Vinicius took a Matt Doherty cross and headed it into the South Korean’s path in the box was a thing of beauty for Spurs and they were indeed cruising.
The relatively easy walk through Europe to date ended on Thursday October 29, as Halloween came early for Spurs losing 1-0 to Royal Antwerp in Belgium. Tottenham were simply too passive on the evening, basically putting the ball on a plate for Antwerp to score as Ben Davies gave the ball away in the middle of the defensive half.
Tottenham never fully recovered from that early goal and many of the questions that had started to spring up following draws in League were now showing up here in terms of focus. For Jose Mourinho and Spurs, it may have meant a shortening of his bench for now as the Lilywhites were now second in the group only two matches in.
The third game in the group put Spurs back on top as Tottenham beat Ludogorets 1-3 back in Bulgaria. The Ludogorets match was more of a celebration than a football game, although the clean sheet was not maintained. The game was Harry Kane’s 300th with Tottenham and he marked the evening scoring his 200th career goal for the club.
Spurs were comfortably up two goals at halftime, but Ludogorets halved that lead shortly after the interval on a deflected shot that left the defense frozen and late to respond. Less than 15 minutes later Son was coming on the pitch and less than 20 second after that he was receiving the ball and passing it into the middle to Lo Celso for an easy goal and the final score in the 1-3 victory.
At the same time LASK beat Royal Antwerp, leaving Spurs on top of Group J by goal difference, which means Spurs control their own destiny. Tottenham will restart their Group Stage adventure right after the break, hosting Ludogorets five days after Spurs host Manchester City and three days before travelling to Stamford Bridge.
While it would be easy to overlook this match with such big games sandwiching it, winning the 4th game in the group stage sets Spurs up for success. Regardless of how Saturday goes, when Thursdays come it is about one game at a time. After all, one game at a time is how Tottenham have gotten here.