Show only key events Please enable JavaScript to use this feature Tottenham’s first half xG speaks for itself: 0.04. Marseille, for the record, is at 0.65. But if that stat isn’t enough, how about these: Marseille’s 134 final-third passes to Tottenham’s 14 and Marseille’s 16 touches in the opposition square to Tottenham’s big zero. And yet Spurs are a long way from doing so. They only need a draw, and for all that one-sided misery, if Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg had been on target with the last strike of the half, they would have leveled. Football is a funny old game, as the greatest striker to ever play for the club liked to say. Half time commercial. Register now! Register now! Register now? Register now!
HALF TIME: Marseille 1-0 Tottenham
This is not worth more than what it is worth in Marseille. The hosts were completely dominant and Spurs have paid the price for their lack of ambition. As things stand, the 1993 champions are heading for the last 16 and Spurs will be entered into the Europa League. 45 min +7: Kane takes a rising shot towards goal from 25 yards. Pau Lopez flips and then punches the resulting corner. Hojbjerg fires the ball wide to the right, with the goal unguarded. After the whistle it’s half time. Pau Llorez is vociferous, insisting he’s been interrupted while clearing his lines. But it doesn’t matter now. 45′ +6: Spurs did not react to the goal at all. They are really desperate to hear the half-time whistle now. 45 min +4: The Velodrome erupts. The roof is in danger of being blown towards the Basque Country. In the stands, Antonio Conte looks downright miserable. As things stand, his Champions League curse is set to continue and Spurs are heading for the Europa League.
TARGET! Marseille 1-0 Tottenham (Bemba 45+2)
Harriet buzzes right. Sessegnon clears the ball for what he thinks is a foul… but the referee calls for a corner. Marseille slowly, Harit in Beretout. Vertout then flicks it to the far stick where Mbemba rises to head it down past Lloris and into the bottom left corner. Unstoppable! This, it’s fair to say, was coming. Chancel Mbemba pounces to give Marseille the lead. Photo: Eric Gaillard/Reuters Updated at 20:57 GMT 45 min: Spurs can’t get out of their final third. They keep giving the ball to Marseille, allowing the hosts to probe here and there. The noise in the Velodrome is rising. Spurs are hovering. There will be seven extra minutes in the first half. 43′: Corner for Marseille on the left. Gigot beats Lloris who flutters but it goes over the bar. Marseille soon go straight back to Spurs, Tavares crosses from the left, Guduzzi can’t connect in the middle and Sessegnon clears. Spurs could do with a half-time whistle. 42′: In the other Group D game, Sporting took the lead against Eintracht. Arthur Gomes on 39 minutes. As things stand, they go through as group winners. 40 mins: Spurs continue to sit deep. Guenduzi hovers and probes. The spurs keep their shape. “They can’t keep playing like this,” sighs a worried Glenn Hoddle on BT Sport. 38 mins: Kane makes himself busy down the left and wins Tottenham’s first corner of the night. Pau Lopez, formerly of Spurs without ever making a first-team appearance, taps Perisic’s delivery clear, winning a free-kick for an obstruction as he does so. 36 min: Lloris takes his sweet moment over a free-kick. The home fans give him the pantomime bird. Expect more of this. You can’t blame Tottenham, everyone would. 35 min: Sessegnon and Moura combine on the edge of the Marseille D before slipping the ball wide left for Perisic, who drives a superbly attractive ball inside the six-yard box. But Kane is inexplicably not there and then the flag goes up for an offside on Moura anyway. The most dangerous Spurs have seen so far. 34 mins: Marseille have enjoyed 62 per cent of possession and now force Lloris into a second save. On the balance of the game, Spurs will be very happy with this result. 33′: Beba’s cross from the right. Sessegnon tries to clear but doesn’t connect with his volley. The ball breaks to Veretout, who takes a touch to shift the ball to the left and then fires a shot past Lloris and into the top right. Lloris, at full stretch, makes a superb clearance for a corner, from which nothing comes. 31 min: The four-minute stoppage time for Sean’s injury has disrupted the flow of the game. It’s all a bit disjointed right now. 29 mins: The departed son is replaced by Yves Bissouma. 28 mins: Nope. Poor Sean, shoulders hunched and head hanging low, is helped off the field. He walks very sweetly in the tunnel, with the help of the doctor. God speed. 27 mins: The physio has spent a few minutes looking at Sean, who is lying there staring off into the distance rather blankly. He certainly won’t be allowed to continue. 25 mins: Sean goes down with an accidental headbutt in an aerial challenge on Mbemba. It looks really noisy. Beba’s shoulder connected with his cheek. That would be painful. 23 mins: Spurs are struggling to break through Marseille’s press and get out of their final third. They haven’t enjoyed much in the way of possession so far. 21 minutes: Veretout crosses deep from the left. Klaus lowers his chest and shoots across goal and wide of the left post. Lloris had that cover but the hosts continue to dominate and Spurs are living a little dangerously here. 19 min: Tavares finds Sanchez with a pass down the inside-left channel. Sanchez has his back to goal but turns away from Davies and shoots with a smooth movement, the ball moving to the top left. Lloris takes a corner, from which nothing comes. A good effort – let’s face it, that will be history if he scores – from the former Arsenal man. 17 mins: Dier fires a cross into his own box to Lenglet, who almost clears under pressure from Sanchez. Marseille claim the ball hit Lenglet’s hand, but there is nothing. Davies bombs down the left wing at full speed on the counter, but his effort to free Perisic with a ball down the channel goes wide. It’s not much, but at least Spurs have now shown themselves in attack. 15 mins: Harrit, a full-back from deep, almost finds Sanchez with a forensic through ball. Davies does very well to read the danger, intercept and clear as Sanchez was about to take possession just inside the box. 13 mins: Tavares breaks down the left and is almost brought down by Sessegnon. Tavares stays on his feet only to successfully fall from Sessegnon’s second attempt. Free kick just to the left of the Spurs box. Everyone lines up ten meters from the goal. Veretout’s delivery fails to beat first man and Spurs are able to break away. 11 mins: Marseille are on top of everything at the moment. Kane, already showing signs of frustration, pointlessly cuts Veretout and gives him the eye as he gets back up. A hard look. Paddington would be proud. Harry Kane is swarmed by Eric Bayley. Photo: Daniel Cole/AP Updated at 20:17 GMT 9 mins: Bailly’s injury is diminishing. Then he gets up and limps. Samuel Gigot takes his place. 8 min: Sanchez drags a speculative shot wide left from 25 yards. Spurs are expected to arrive soon. 7 mins: Guendouzi comes on on the left now, prompted to send Tavares into space down the flank. Tavares unearths a cross which proves easy control for Lloris. All this is Marseilles, and the noise is deafening. 5 mins: Gueduzzi makes more ground on the right. He cleanly slides Clauss into the overlay. Clauss skids along the byline and has team-mates waiting for the cut-back, but instead slips the odd ball straight to Lloris, who will be grateful for the gift. Spurs need to wake up and fast. 3 mins: Harrit sends a low cross into the Spurs box from the left edge of the area. Sanchez bends and guides a header across Lloris and inches wide from the bottom right. If this was on target, Lloris was defeated. Nice try. 2 mins: Gueduzzi drives down the right and crosses deep. Tavares tries to control in the left corner of the square but can’t do it under Dyer’s pressure. Spurs clear their lines. Spurs get the ball rolling. One hell of an atmosphere! Warm but not particularly welcoming. That touch of the Riviera! The teams are out! As the home team, Marseille get the first white kits, so Spurs run out with a third choice ‘Rift blue and mystic navy… inspired by Tottenham’s ever-evolving DNA and the popular Nike TN range of trainers’. So there you go. Dare, yes, dare to do it your way. The Vélodrome bounces back, even without fans in Visage Nord, a legacy of incidents involving Marseille fans when they played Eintracht Frankfurt in September. We will leave once the desecration of Zadok the priest is complete. No word from Antonio Conte for obvious reasons, so assistant coach Cristian Stellini – looking and sounding relaxed and confident – speaks to BT Sport. “The routine doesn’t change. Antonio and I got ready by the time we got here, and the dressing room is pretty quiet. We are motivated and ready to play this match. Last night we slept very well, enjoyed the fireworks, but it was a bit short! We make a lot of changes every game because the schedule is difficult, but every game our choice is to win and we choose to win. Marseille mix of quality with intensity. We have to be tough, win duels and we’ll see.” Spectacular fireworks display before the match. Tottenham Hotspur make four changes to the starting line-up selected for their 3-2 win at Bournemouth on Saturday afternoon. Ivan Perišić, Eric Dier, Rodrigo Bentancur and Lucas Moura return, with Davinson Sánchez, Oliver Skipp, Yves Bissouma and Emerson Royal dropping to the bench. Marseille has…
