Tottenham vs RB Leipzig LIVE: Result and reaction from Champions League fixture tonight
Re-live all the action from the first leg at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
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Tottenham will again have to do it the hard way in the Champions League after they suffered a 1-0 home defeat in the first leg of their last-16 tie with RB Leipzig.
Spurs' run to the final last season was full of great escapes and comeback wins and they will need another after Timo Werner's second-half penalty gave the Bundesliga side a deserved win in their first ever knockout game in this competition.
It also sees 32-year-old Leipzig coach Julian Nagelsmann, who has been dubbed 'Baby Mourinho' and is a rising star of European football, gain the edge over the man he has been named after.
But Spurs boss Jose Mourinho will claim this was not a fair fight as he was without two of his best attacking players, with the loss Son Heung-min on the eve of the match adding to that of Harry Kane.
The defeat would have been much worse had Hugo Lloris not produced a number of vital saves to keep Leipzig at bay, while Spurs struggled for clear opportunities at the other end.
Giovani Lo Celso had the best of them as his free-kick was turned on to the post, but it was a frustrating night for Mourinho.
Spurs will look to last season's semi-final, where they turned around a similar first-leg defeat to Ajax with a dramatic night in Amsterdam, and there is the sense that something similar will be required in Leipzig on March 10.
While Nagelsmann was enjoying his first taste of knockout football in this competition, this was nothing new for Mourinho.
But rarely will he have gone into such a big game without two such key men as Son and Kane and their absence really set the tone.
Although Spurs' problems were in attack, their frailties at the other end were immediately apparent as Leipzig had three golden chances inside the opening two minutes.
The hosts were sliced open down the right and Nordi Mukiele's cross teed up Werner, but his shot was blocked by Davinson Sanchez.
Then from the rebound Angelino's shot was turned onto the post by the leg of Lloris, who then saved Werner's effort from close range.
Spurs, with no recognised striker on the pitch, were hoping that the pace of Bergwijn and Lucas Moura would be their main weapon and it was the Dutchman who had their best moment of the first half.
The mercurial Lo Celso played him in with a deft touch and, after turning inside, Bergwijn's low shot was palmed away by Peter Gulacsi.
But from then on, it was a succession of missed chances for the visitors as Leipzig found holes in the Spurs defence at will.
Patrick Schick put a header just wide from a corner, Angelino had another effort blocked and Lloris was called into action again to deny Werner with a parried save.
The inevitable eventually happened just before the hour mark.
Werner's chipped ball was met by Konrad Laimer and the Dane was clattered into by Ben Davies, with referee Cuneyt Cakir rightly pointing to the spot.
Werner made no mistake as he drilled into the bottom corner for a crucial away goal.
It should have been even worse for Spurs as Leipzig got in on goal with a slick counter attack, but Lloris came to the rescue with a fine save off Schick.
Mourinho's side had to up the ante and Lo Celso came close to levelling matters in the 72nd minute, but his 25-yard free-kick was tipped onto the post by Gulacsi.
Their big moment came in the 89th minute, but Moura could not deliver as he did in Amsterdam last May.
Davies had space on the left and picked the Brazilian out perfectly, but his header went over the crossbar and it left Spurs with another mountain to climb in this competition.
PA
PREVIEW
What time is Tottenham vs Leipzig?
The match kicks off at 8pm at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
What TV channel is it on?
The match will be shown on BT Sport 2 for UK subscribers. Viewers can also access coverage via the BT Sport App.
Predicted line-ups
Spurs: Lloris, Aurier, Alderweireld, Sanchez, Davies, Lo Celso, Winks, Alli, Bergwijn, Ndombele, Lucas
Leipzig: Gulacsi, Mukiele, Klostermann, Ampadu, Halstenberg, Angelino, Laimer, Sabitzer, Olmo, Nkunku, Werner
Prediction
Tottenham have ground out some good results recently and Jose Mourinho is a master at stifling dangerous attacks in Europe. Expect a cagey contest. 0-0.
Hello and welcome along to live coverage of Tottenham vs RB Leipzig, as the two sides collide in the Champions League last 16. Who will get the upper hand in the battle between the old master, Mourinho, and the new coming, Nagelsmann? Here's our exclusive interview with the man in charge of the Bundesliga challengers:
The team news will be coming in at around 6.45pm but here's what we know so far:
Tottenham will be without their first choice forwards as both Harry Kane and Son Heung-min are out injured. Son has undergone surgery on his broken arm but could be out for the rest of the season.
Spurs' boss, Jose Mourinho, believes the absences may be an advantage as RB Leipzig could underestimate the strength of his team. He said:
"They are probably thinking, 'Wow, now is the time to kill them',
"I understand why they think that way but we are going to give everything and I don't think it's going to be easy for Leipzig to play against us."
Kane and Son are out. Could Lamela and Foyth return? Here's what we know as Spurs prepare to take on RB Leipzig in the last-16 knockout stages of the Champions League:
In a pre-match interview Jose Mourinho gave his thoughts on Tottenham's opponents tonight, RB Leipzig, and the threat they pose on goal. Here's what he had to sy:
“They are a very good team. They were leading the Bundesliga since the beginning of the season, they’ve just dropped one point behind Bayern but we know how powerful Bayern are in the Bundesliga so just by that, you can imagine the quality of their team.
“They’re a very good team, a very balanced team, huge squad, lots of options. They are able to play in different tactical systems, very fast, very dangerous on the counter-attack, they have three strikers in the squad but sometimes they play without them, to play just with fast players like (Timo) Werner and (Christopher) Nkunku like they did against Bayern Munich.
"They are a team that has goals coming from many different players, many different positions, solid and strong defensively, I would say a much, much better team than the name of let’s say a young club, an emerging club, has in this moment.”
Team news
The big takeaway from Jose Mourinho's starting XI is the attacking trio of Dele Alli, Steven Bergwijn and Lucas Moura. None of which is an out and out striker.
Will they be able to get the job done against second placed team in the Bundesliga?
Team news
Lucas Moura has proven he is capable in front of goal with 15 goals, including two hat-tricks, last season. This year he has scored seven times and will need to step up again tonight.
By his side will be January signing Steven Bergwijn. He was a stable prescence for Ajax in front of goal last season scoring 14 and he continued that form at the beginning of the current campaign netting five times in 16 matches.
For Spurs he scored in his opening game for the London club in the 2-0 victory over Man City.
Team news - RB Leipzig
RB Leipzig: Gulacsi, Mukiele, Halstenberg, Klostermann, Angelino, Laimer, Ampadu, Sabitzer, Nkunku, Schick, Werner
The big news is that Wales international Ethan Ampadu, on loan from Chelsea, is in RB Leipzig's starting line-up, despite only played 187 minutes in total for the German club this season.
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