Phil Thompson was in awe of the quality of Tottenham’s display when they beat Borussia Dortmund 1-0 in the second leg of their Champions League last-16 tie on Tuesday.
Spurs won 4-0 on aggregate and the Sky Sports pundit praised how “extraordinary” the defence – as well as the whole team – was on the night, remarking on how they could have rolled over after the unconvincing form that they have been in recently.
He was in awe of how the whole team performed on the night, a night where they could have easily gone 3-0 down to the Bundesliga giants.
“It was something extraordinary. The likes of [Jan] Vertonghen… their play against Dortmund was absolutely incredible. It was absolutely astonishing. I think [Hugo] Lloris, some of his performances have been up and down, but on the night, it was absolutely astonishing,” he said on Sky Sports Soccer Saturday [1.45pm, 09/3].
“How they believed that they could get through such a difficult period, because they could have quite easily been 3-0 down against Dortmund – quite easily. But they hung in there, they’ve seen it out, I just thought it was a fantastic performance.”
OPINION
It is no secret that Spurs have been having an indifferent time of it lately, but this gushing praise from Thompson sums up just how far they have come recently. They were certainly not at their best against Arsenal last Saturday, in fact there were a number of times where they could have lost the game – but they held it together to progress to the quarter-finals of the Champions League. They could have rolled over to Dortmund after the way they had been playing – they could surrendered their lead and let the German outfit walk all over them. However, they did not, and many fans will be hoping that this is the catalyst for things to come from now on. The race for the Premier League top four is hotter than it has ever been, so the pressure is firmly on Tottenham’s shoulders now. Thompson is spot on to lavish praise on them after this, as it has been a difficult period for them.