RB Leipzig 3-0 Tottenham (4-0 agg.): Hits and Flops | UEFA Champions League 2019-20
With a 1-0 deficit to overturn, Jose Mourinho took his dishevelled Tottenham Hotspur soldiers to Germany with a plan. The Portuguese coach has come under much fire recently for his team’s poor displays and his snarky comments regarding player performances. As for RB Leipzig, they came into the game after a 0-0 away draw with Wolfsburg, a result that keeps them third in the league, five points behind leaders Bayern Munich. Julian Nagelsmann knew that this would be a season-defining match and prepared accordingly.
It took only 10 minutes for the deadlock to be broken as Marcel Sabitzer struck a low shot from 25 yards out. He would double the team’s lead with a pinpoint header in the 21st minute. RB Leipzig would decide to strengthen their comfortable dominance with a third goal in the 87th minute as Emil Forsberg would score with his first touch on the pitch. With that commanding result, Nagelsmann's men proceeded to the Champions League quarter-finals and will be a match for any team in the competition.
Here are the hits and flops from RB Leipzig 3-0 Tottenham (4-0 agg.)
#5 Flop: Hugo Lloris
There have always been a few questions concerning the abilities of Hugo Lloris. Despite formerly being known as one of the best goalkeepers in the world, Lloris has never been an elite goalkeeper. His constant mistakes and poor shot-stopping have proven several times that he’s a liability waiting to happen. Of course, even the best of goalkeepers can have bad games as we saw with Ederson in the Manchester derby but for Lloris, it has happened far too often.
In the first shot he had to deal with, Lloris allowed Sabitzer’s averagely powered shot to slip through his fingers, despite him having a clear sight of the shot and no deflections preceding it. If that weren’t enough, the Frenchman broke the golden rule of keeping, ‘never get beaten at your near post’. Once again, the 33-year-old would be beaten by another Sabitzer effort as a header squirmed past his near post. When a team are trying to overturn a 1-0 deficit, the goalkeeper's performing poorly doesn’t help.
Also Read: Is Jose Mourinho still the special one?