Nightmare Champions League return for Spurs as Monaco prevail

Tottenham Hotspur 1 Monaco 2

They came in their tens of thousands and the sense of occasion was palpable. Never before had so many watched a home club game in English football but the over-riding emotion among the whopping 85,011 in attendance would be regret.

What if Tottenham had been more clinical? What if they had not switched off twice in the first-half to concede? Tottenham did not look unnerved by the grandest of occasions at Wembley. They merely came up on the wrong side of the finest of margins against a Monaco team that showed precisely why they are on top of Ligue 1 at present.

Mauricio Pochettino had said beforehand that such is the strength of the Premier League, a tie in the Champions League ought to hold no fears. Tottenham had won handsomely at Stoke City on Saturday. “It’s just as tough to play Monaco as it is Stoke,” the manager said.

This rang hollow. Monaco were no Stoke and they showed their clinical side to condemn Tottenham to a disappointing start in Group E. Toby Alderweireld’s goal in first-half stoppage time had hinted at a comeback but Monaco closed the game out with a degree of comfort in the final stages. At full-time, the tiny pocket of French supporters erupted in delight. The Tottenham hoards departed with their heads bowed.

Tottenham had dreamed of this for some time. Never mind Wembley, their Champions League aspirations had previously been restricted to one exhilarating jaunt in 2010-11 and they had been desperate to feel the chills upon the pre-match aria.

As so often at English home games, the stadium had been dotted with empty seats five minutes before kick-off but, as if a switch had been flicked, it was full when the first whistle blew. The atmosphere was raucous at the outset. The songs were bellowed out and there were guttural roars whenever Tottenham charged forward.

Monaco’s breakthrough goal was a choker, particularly for Erik Lamela, who lost the ball in a dangerous area and watched the quicksilver Bernardo Silva streak away. Pochettino would have winced at the manner in which the Portugal international was allowed to run and, when he cut inside Jan Vertonghen for the shot, Tottenham hearts fluttered. The finish was thrashed with precision into Hugo Lloris’s far corner.

Silva played off the shoulder of the former Manchester United and Chelsea striker, Radamel Falcao, in what was a 4-4-2 formation from the manager, Leonardo Jardim. Within it, Silva had the license the drop off but it was a system that was marked by boldness and one that was not upset by the early loss of the right winger, Nabil Dirar, to a muscle pull.

Dirar’s replacement, Thomas Lemar, another sinewy, skilful player, scored his team’s second and it was another concession that was marked by slapdash defending. From Silva’s nonchalant back-heel, Djibril Sidibé was granted the space to cross from the left and, when the ball eluded Vertonghen, it crashed into Ben Davies and broke for Lemar. He banged his shot high into the net.

Pochettino, too, had been adventurous with his starting selection, finding room for both Lamela and Son Heung-min, and using Dele Alli alongside Eric Dier in midfield, at the expense of the more defensive-minded Victor Wanyama. Tottenham were the brighter team for the first 15 minutes and they could lament Son’s miss with the tie’s first chance.

When Harry Kane crossed from the right, Christian Eriksen, who started in the No10 role, surged forward and Tottenham had two-on-one inside the box. Son was the man over at the far post and he had the time to control and place his shot towards the far corner. Andrea Raggi, though, had bolted back to cover and he cleared.

At 0-2, the massive crowd felt restless but they watched Toby Alderweireld fashion a life-line when he attacked Lamela’s corner, getting himself in front of Kamil Glik to thud a header past Danijel Subasic. And Tottenham almost snatched the equaliser moments later, in first-half injury-time, when Alli stretched to apply a touch to Lamela’s clipped pass only to be narrowly short.

Tottenham played Monaco twice last season in the Europa League, drawing in France and hammering them at White Hart Lane but Jardim’s current crop looked more polished, more streetwise. Silva and João Moutinho provided moments of refinement and Falcao also emerged with credit.

Pochettino introduced Mousa Dembélé at the interval for his first action of the season – the midfielder was suspended for Tottenham’s opening four Premier League games – and the scene was set for a knife-edged drama. The home team pressed hard onto the front foot, with Kane linking up the play and menacing with his runs into the channels but Monaco remained capable of springing on the counter.

Alli worked Subasic with a dipping volley, Kane saw a shot blocked by Jemerson and there was the bizarre moment when Alli threw himself to the ground, under a non-challenge from Fabinho, as Lamela prepared to take a corner and the referee, Gianluca Rocchi, rushed over to book the Monaco player. The visiting players panicked, clearly sensing that a penalty award was next but Rocchi could not point to the spot as the ball had not been in play.

There was also time for the substitute Vincent Janssen to cross for Kane but he blasted his shot at Subasic. It was a bad miss. Tottenham would not go close again.

(Guardian service)