Christian Eriksen hailed Hugo Lloris for inspiring Tottenham to a memorable Champions League triumph against Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday night.
The Spurs goalkeeper pulled off a string of outstanding saves as the visitors secured a 1-0 win that gave them a 4-0 aggregate triumph to secure a place in the quarter-finals of the competition.
Asked to put the Dortmund-dominated first half at Signal Iduna Park into words for beIN Sports, Eriksen replied: “Hugo Lloris. That’s all the two words you need from our half.
“He was wearing gloves today and we’re happy about that. It was a big game with a lot of pressure. It would have been completely different game if they had scored one or two goals early.
“He kept us in the game and we can be thankful to Hugo once again.”
Christian Eriksen has 2 words for @CarrieBrownTV!#beINUCL #UCL #BVBTOThttps://t.co/ap2yGJbIiA pic.twitter.com/KlBMVaVSNw
— beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS_EN) March 5, 2019
OPINION
Lloris has come in for plenty of criticism this season, including from Tottenham legends and fans of the club. His form has been hot-and-cold for much of the campaign, much as it was last season and he is no longer the byword for reliability and consistency. But the France World Cup winner was blazing hot in Germany and demonstrated that he can still deliver masterclasses at the highest level with one of the outstanding performances of his lengthy and distinguished Spurs career. Eriksen made it clear that the players felt Lloris did more than anyone to push the team over the line against Dortmund, something that could have been in doubt had he not produced those all-important stops when the home side came flying out of the traps at a raucous and intimidating venue. Lloris’ place has been questioned of late, and it is not unfair to say he is not the keeper he once was, but no-one can dispute his excellence when it mattered on Tuesday.