Tottenham always seem to do it the hard way. That meant they finished top of Group D, but just over half an hour earlier they were out of the competition in the Europa League. It is not the first time Spurs fans have endured a nerve-wracking night in Europe and Tuesday’s frenetic game in Marseille had supporters re-upping the group table on countless occasions. Supporters are used to it. During Tottenham’s historic run to the 2019 final they needed a draw at Barcelona to finish runners-up in their group and progress to the last 16. Former manager Mauricio Pochettino described it as “mission impossible” at the time. Their task in France was seemingly simpler – Tottenham knew a point would be enough to progress, but as events unfolded, it was anything but. Spurs’ position in Group D changed six times on the night with three of the four clubs topping the group at some stage on the night. The two teams that were set to advance to the last 16 at half-time ended up being eliminated from the competition by the end of the night. Frankfurt eventually finished the group stage with 10 points – the best record of any team on their first appearance in the competition for six seasons – while Tottenham’s winner saw them top Group D.
When did Tottenham leave the competition?
How Group D looked ahead of Tuesday’s games with Tottenham needing a point to guarantee progress
Before kick off – (Tottenham 1st, Sporting 2nd, Frankfurt 3rd, Marseille 4th) 39 mins – Sporting 1-0 Frankfurt (1st Sporting, 2nd Tottenham) 45+2 mins – Marseille 1-0 Tottenham (1st Sporting, 2nd Marseille, 3rd Tottenham)
At half-time it was Sporting and Marseille advancing to the round of 16 while Tottenham and Frankfurt were out
54 mins – Marseille 1-1 Tottenham (1st Sporting, 2nd Tottenham, 3rd Marseille) 62 mins – Sporting 1-1 Frankfurt (1st Tottenham, 2nd Sporting) 72 mins – Sporting 1-2 Frankfurt (Frankfurt 1st, Tottenham 2nd, Marseille 3rd) 90+5 mins – Marseille 1-2 Tottenham (Tottenham 1st, Frankfurt 2nd)
How Group D ended after Tuesday’s games – Tottenham advanced as group winners, Eintracht Frankfurt advanced to the last 16, Sporting Lisbon dropped to the Europa League and Marseille crashed out of Europe
How events unfolded in an eventful evening
Spurs traveled to France as group leaders with Sporting Lisbon second, level on points with Eintracht Frankfurt, who they beat head-to-head. Tottenham’s rivals Marseille were bottom of the group and knew a win would see them out no matter what. Both matches started with the four teams participating with chances of qualification. Within 39 minutes, Sporting were 1-0 up against Frankfurt, sending them top of the group, ahead of yet-to-be-qualified Tottenham. But then Marseille went up 1-0 at halftime. That goal overhauled the pack as they suddenly moved up to second place, moving Spurs into third and heading for the Europa League. It didn’t take long for Tottenham to respond in the second half and when Clement Lenglet made it 1-1, they moved up to second, pushing Marseille into third. Frankfurt then hit back in the 62nd minute to draw level with Sporting, sending Tottenham back to the top of the group. The German side scored again 10 minutes later, meaning they moved past Tottenham as group leaders and Sporting dropped to fourth. That game ended 2-1 and they had to wait to find out the result in France. Spurs were held to 1-1 as Marseille pressed for a winner, but it was Tottenham midfielder Pierre-Emile Hoiberg who struck in the 95th minute. This goal meant Tottenham went through as group winners and Marseille missed out on European football altogether for the rest of the season, dropping to the bottom of the table.
How did you react on social media?
Richard: Seriously the most Conte thing ever. Very lucky boys. Rachel: It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish. COME SEEDS! Mark: I don’t know what everyone panicked about! Need a result, away from home, in the last game of the group! Remind you of another one of our CL campaigns? Come on Spurs! Mike: Marseille must break out! They did everything possible to beat Tottenham and instead lost the game, meaning instead of going to the round of 16, they don’t even qualify for the Europa League! Chris: This Spurs game is really a textbook example of a game of two halves.
