Tottenham Hotspur captain Hugo Lloris said his team had shown “great personality” to come from behind and beat Marseille 2-1 on Tuesday, a result that saw them progress to the last-16 of the Champions League as group winners.
“It was a tough night. It was a great battle. I think it was more of a psychological battle because we could feel in the first half there was a team playing without the fear to lose — which was Marseille,” Lloris said.
“Then in the second half we faced a team that had the fear to lose because they were 1-0 up and one goal could cost their chances to go through.” Spurs advance along with Eintracht Frankfurt, which won 2-1 away to Sporting Lisbon.
“We expected that type of game. We know the Velodrome is a difficult place to deal with and I think we showed great personality in the second half,” Lloris added. Tottenham claimed the victory despite being without the presence on the touchline of suspended manager Antonio Conte, while they saw Son Heung-min come off hurt in the first half.
Harry Kane put it as the pros tend to put it: heavy on understatement, a disappointing lack of drama. “There were a few words said by a few people,” the Tottenham striker said as he reflected on what went on during half-time.
Kane talked about how there was no panic at halftime, partly because the team had been there before and more frequently than they would like.
“We’re a team that always feels like we’re going to get chances, especially in the second half of games when teams get tired,” Kane said. “Fitness-wise we’re a really strong team so we feel like we can always come strong in the second half.”
Klopp’s message
Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp was happy to see his team bounce back from back-to-back Premier League losses with a 2-0 win over group champions Napoli.
“I don’t think anyone doubts the quality, but that is part of the problem as well,” Klopp said. “So we don’tshow it consistently.
“We are Liverpool, a top team. Nobody forgot what we did last year, the boys didn’tforget that, but it’s now not important. People might get sick of it when I say, but we now really have to fight through and then in that moment the football has a good chance to come back, the real football that we can play.”
However, it will take more than one win to dispel the doubts surrounding Liverpool.
