The Champions League season is over for Tottenham Hotspur. After the 1-0 defeat against AC Milan in the first leg, a goalless draw in the second leg on Wednesday evening (March 8th, 2022) sealed Spurs’ elimination.
The hosts presented themselves too harmlessly over the entire season and deservedly retired. On the part of the clever Milanese, for the first time since the 2011/12 season, they were able to celebrate reaching the quarter-finals of the Champions League.
Tottenham shockingly passive
“The game against Milan could be the most important of the season“, Tottenham’s former Bundesliga player Heung-Min Son said in the run-up to the game. But those who expected the dominant Londoners to be bursting with motivation were disappointed: AC Milan got off to a better start in the game and confidently kept the ball in their own ranks .
The Spurs acted passively in the early minutes, but after a counterattack via Emerson Royal they still managed to get the first promising end of the game (12′). On the other side, Junior Messias had the guests’ first good chance to score after a free-kick variant, but hit the ball completely wrong (18′).
As a result, a balanced game with few highlights developed, playful highlights were not to be seen until the half-time whistle.
Milan’s Brahim Diaz misses the first big chance
It wasn’t until the 51st minute that the spectators in London saw the first big chance to score. Brahim Diaz played his way down the right flank with Messias and got in front of Tottenham goalkeeper Fraser Foster, but the Spaniard was denied by the goalkeeper’s strong save.
Tottenham continued to find it extremely difficult in the offensive game, but now invested noticeably more. The actors showed improved body language and took the audience with them – but the attacking actions didn’t get any more effective. Pierre-Emiley Höjbjerg’s attempt (64th) landed on Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan.
Milan also more dangerous in the second round
The guests remained more dangerous: After Rafael Leao had already frittered away the ball in the penalty area, Diaz got the ball, but aimed too imprecisely at the end. Olivier Giroud failed with a margin shot at Foster (67th).
After an unnecessary and hard entry against Theo Hernandez on the sidelines, Tottenham’s defender Cristian Romero saw the yellow-red card in the final phase (78th) – and thus made the task even more difficult for Spurs. The Milanese now opened up spaces in the counterattack, but they remained unused.
Things only got heated again in injury time: first Harry Kane failed to hit Maignan with a header that was well worth seeing, then Milan’s Leao hit the post after a counterattack.
Quarterfinal draw on March 17th
On March 17, UEFA draws the quarter-finals and semi-finals. The quarterfinals will be held from April 11th.