Monaco 2 Tottenham Hotspur 1
It was the latest, painful lesson that Mauricio Pochettino and his Tottenham players have been forced to endure on this Champions League adventure and it was one that emphatically ended their dream. The club put blood, sweat and tears into qualifying for the competition but they will now go no further.
When the draw was made for Group E, there had been the sense that Tottenham had not done too badly with their opponents. It was based, in part, on Monaco being beatable. Tottenham, after all, had taken four points from them at the Europa League group stage last season. How misplaced that judgment now looks.
Monaco have improved dramatically and, having beaten Spurs at Wembley in the opening tie in September, they were once again too good for them. Radamel Falcao saw an 11th-minute penalty saved by Hugo Lloris, who was Tottenham's outstanding player, but they took control and always looked the likelier winners.
Son Heung-min blew a glorious early chance that might have put a different complexion on the evening but it was a night when one plain truth had to be acknowledged. Tottenham have been found wanting at this level and they must now regroup and resume the mission to re-enter the competition next season.
The road will be treacherous. Bayer Leverkusen’s draw at CSKA Moscow in the earlier kick-off had seemed like a good result for Spurs but the reality was that it represented only the slimmest of lifelines. Pochettino’s team still needed victory here, if they were not to be reliant upon Monaco winning at Leverkusen in the final round of fixtures.
The tie had crackled to life at the outset and it was Tottenham who ought to have taken the lead after six minutes. Dele Alli shredded the Monaco backline with a slide-rule pass and Son found himself one-on-one with Danijel Subasic.
Son had time, perhaps too much time, and after mulling over his options, he tried to dribble around the goalkeeper and finish. Subasic, though, read his intentions to force him wide. It was a bad moment for the South Korean, who had also been guilty of a big miss in the early running against Monaco at Wembley, and it was not the only time that his touch was out-of-sorts.
It was the prompt for Monaco to flex their muscles and showcase the slick, football that has underpinned their recent form. The penalty concession was a disaster from Tottenham's point of view, featuring a swing-and-a-miss from Victor Wanyama as he attempted to clear, and a-swing-and-a-hit from Eric Dier, as he took down Fabinho.
Falcao had entered the tie with six goals in five appearances and it was a menacing sight when he addressed the kick. But Lloris sprang low to his right to get a firm hand to the shot and claw the ball to safety. The goalkeeper’s value to Tottenham is immense.
After the 3-4-3 at Arsenal and the 4-4-2 diamond at home to West Ham United, Pochettino road-tested a third formation in as many matches with a 4-3-2-1. Wanyama anchored the midfield trio, while Son and Alli were further forward in support of Harry Kane.
The big surprise had been the inclusion of Kevin Wimmer in place of Jan Vertonghen in central defence, while Kieran Trippier came in for Kyle Walker at right-back. Trippier wore a mask to protect a broken nose and Alli had a strapping on the left knee that he had recently injured. Pochettino's team have dragged themselves through many battles already this season.
Monaco made inroads in the space between Wimmer and the left-back, Danny Rose, and Tottenham came to be pinned back in the first-half. There was zest about this youthful Monaco team, in which seven of the starting XI were aged 24 or under, and Tottenham were happy to reach the interval on level terms. At times, Pochettino's defence lacked cohesion and their offside trap was out of sync.
Lloris had denied Benjamin Mendy in the 13th minute while the lively Valère Germain twice went close in the first-half. On the second occasion, having outstripped Wimmer, he shot inches wide of the far post, although Lloris looked to have the angles covered.
The Monaco breakthrough had been trailed and it arrived at the beginning of the second-half, after smart approach work from Bernardo Silva, who is a beautifully balanced player, and a cross from Mendy, who had skipped inside Harry Winks. Wimmer stretched to clear but he could not and Djibril Sidibe was all alone to head past Lloris. One full-back had supplied the assist; the other the finish, and that said everything about Monaco's enterprising approach.
Tottenham dug out a foothold when Alli took a magical first touch on a high ball into the area and pirouetted away from Kamil Glik, before feeling the defender’s arm upon him. The referee seemed to take an age to point to the penalty spot; Kane’s kick was too powerful for Subasic. But Tottenham would surrender the initiative. Monaco moved the ball up the right and across in four passes from the kick-off and Thomas Lemar took one touch before drilling low into the far corner.
Pochettino introduced his substitutes, he switched to a 4-4-2 diamond with Vincent Janssen alongside Kane and Spurs had a few moments in front of goal. Dier saw Lemar clear his header from in front of a post and Alli swiped a volley wide. But, at the other end, Lloris produced an incredible reaction save to tip over from Glik and he also denied Falcao. They were hardly dancing on the streets of Monte Carlo, but it was Monaco who deserved advanced as the group winners.
(Guardian service)
