SM
Bayern vs. Augsburg: 17 hrs 11 mins
Upcoming predictions and previews
LL
Champions League | Round of 16
Mar 10, 2020 at 8pm UK
 
SL

3-0

Sabitzer (10', 21'), Forsberg (87')
FT(HT: 2-0)

Jose Mourinho admits Champions League qualification will be "very difficult"

:Headline: Jose Mourinho admits Champions League qualification will be 'very difficult': ID:392524: from db_amp
Tottenham crashed out of the tournament after a 4-0 aggregate loss to RB Leipzig.

Tottenham head coach Jose Mourinho says his side are up against it in their bid to get back into the Champions League next season.

A depleted Spurs, beaten finalists last year, crashed out of this year's tournament after going down to RB Leipzig 4-0 on aggregate in the last 16.

It was their last remaining hope of silverware this season but it never looked likely in east Germany as they lost 3-0 in the second leg, with Marcel Sabitzer scoring a brace and Emil Forsberg adding a late effort.

Spurs have nine games left in the Premier League to try to save their campaign, but their situation looks grim. They are seven points off fourth-placed Chelsea and the likes of Harry Kane, Son Heung-min, Moussa Sissoko and Steven Bergwijn are not going to be back from injury any time soon.

The match with Manchester United on Sunday will be pivotal and Mourinho accepts a top-four finish will be a big ask.

"With the squad we have at the moment it's going to be very, very difficult," he said. "These problems are not going to disappear from today to tomorrow.

"But we have matches to play, matches to fight in. You can see in our matches in the Premier League that we fight until the end.

"In the Premier League we don't have results where we had no chances to fight for the points.

Tottenham Hotspur's Ryan Sessegnon (left) and RB Leipzig's Nordi Mukiele battle for the ball (John Walton/PA)

"When we lost matches, we lost matches 2-1, 3-2, 1-0. We had draws so it's not like we don't fight.

"So we will fight and the players have to be very strong to fight with the limitations we have.

"This time we are not going to recover any players for next Sunday. At least we have a little period, not just two days like we have all the time, we have four days in between."

Mourinho said no team in the world would be able to cope with the amount of injuries to key players his side have suffered.

Tottenham Hotspur's Japhet Tanganga and RB Leipzig's Dayot Upamecano tussle as Spurs keeper Hugo Lloris takes possession (John Walton/PA)

"It looks like the obvious is that the problems accumulate with the accumulation of injuries," Mourinho said.

"If you want to make an exercise and imagine Leipzig tonight without Sabitzer, (Patrik) Schick, (Timo) Werner, do you think they would win the way they did?

"You go to the European champions and make an exercise? Liverpool without (Mohamed) Salah, (Sadio) Mane, (Jordan) Henderson, (Roberto) Firmino.

"You want to go to Spain and do Barcelona without (Antoine) Griezmann, (Lionel) Messi, (Luis) Suarez.

"Do you want to make this exercise with every team in the world?"

amp_article__392524 : Database Data restored...  : 
last updated article - 2020-03-11 06:26:36:
html db last update - 2020-03-11 06:26:36 :

ex - 7200 : read : read cache amp html

Click here for more stories about Jose Mourinho

Click here for more stories about Tottenham Hotspur

Share this article now:
Recommended Next on SM
Premier League Table
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool119112161528
2Manchester CityMan City117222213923
3Chelsea115422113819
4Arsenal115421812619
5Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest115421510519
6Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton115421915419
7Fulham115331613318
8Newcastle UnitedNewcastle115331311218
9Aston Villa115331717018
10Tottenham HotspurSpurs1151523131016
11Brentford115152222016
12Bournemouth114341515015
13Manchester UnitedMan Utd114341212015
14West Ham UnitedWest Ham113351319-612
15Leicester CityLeicester112451421-710
16Everton112451017-710
17Ipswich TownIpswich111551222-108
18Crystal Palace11146815-77
19Wolverhampton WanderersWolves111371627-116
20Southampton11119721-144
Scroll for more - Tap for full version


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
AL
Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!

Loading ...

Failed to load data.



. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .