Tottenham Hotspur catapulted themselves into the top eight of the Europa League standings after holding off Hoffenheim to win 3-2 away from home.
Ange Postecoglou's side were floundering in ninth place heading into Thursday's match but are now ready to avoid the two-legged play-offs to reach the round of 16 after moving up to fourth.
Tottenham play their final match of the league stage at home to Elfsborg on January 30 as they hold a one-point lead over the teams looking to progress automatically, with Postecoglou saying after the match it's a “great position to be in” .
“It gives us a great chance to get one of those top-eight places, which would give us a week off – that's almost as good as getting through,” he told TNT Sport.
“It's a great position for us to be in; we want to finish in the top eight because it gives us an extra week of rest compared to the schedule we had.
“We'll probably need it around then, so it's a great incentive.”
James Maddison's stunning effort in the third minute and Heung-Min Son's deflected shot 20 minutes later put Tottenham in control of the match, but it was a tale of two halves as Hoffenheim came forward in waves after the restart.
The pressure seemed to pay off after Brandon Austin was adjudged to have fouled Max Moerstedt in the penalty area, only for VAR to overturn the decision, but the breakthrough would come just seconds later.
Anton Stach poked the ball into the back of the net – with hopes of a comeback high – until the ball was quickly met by Son who curled his second effort of the evening into the far corner.
However, in traditional Tottenham fashion, there was drama later than later.
David Mokwa Ntusu's header shortly after climbing off the bench set up a tantalizing finish in Germany, with hosts Tottenham, who had replaced the experienced heads of Son and Maddison with teenagers Callum Olusesi and Will Lankshear, going all the way. pushed towards.
Tottenham held on by the best of margins to now break their three-match run without a win in Europe, but their makeshift defence, including Archie Gray at left-back, was put to work for that.
Postecoglou: Winning in Europe isn't easy – ask Man City!
Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou in conversation with TNT Sport:
“It's not easy to get wins in Europe. I watched the Champions League last night and there was only one away win, so it's difficult.
“Thanks to the boys. I thought it was an excellent first half, I played really well. In the second half we looked a bit tired but we hung in there and Sonny scored that extra goal to give us that extra cushion.
“In the end we had the schoolboys there and it was a great win.”
Who would Tottenham be playing against at the moment?
Tottenham are currently in fourth place, meaning that if they remain in this position at the end of the league stage, they will go straight to the round of 16 and face the winners of the play-off match between 13th, 14th, 19th and 20th.
The teams currently in those positions are Rangers (13th), AZ Alkmaar (14th), Fenerbahce (19th) and Besiktas (20th).
When is the Europa League knockout stage?
Knockout play-offs: February 13 and 20, 2025Round of 16: March 6 and 13, 2025Quarter-finals: April 10 and 17, 2025Semi-finals: May 1 and 8, 2025Finals: May 21, 2025
Comments