Totteham’s Erik Lamela and Mousa Dembele have been praised by a former Spurs defender after their dogged performance against Juventus in the Champions League.
Erik Lamela completed 89 minutes in Tottenham’s come from behind 2-2 draw with Juventus on Tuesday night. The draw puts Tottenham in the driver’s seat thanks to the away goals rule.
Meanwhile, teammate Mousa Dembele put in one of the best performances of his Tottenham career. While Tottenham went down two goals early on, Dembele remained smooth in the centre of the park for Spurs. Dembele won four tackles during the match and completed 95% of his passes.
Lamela, who missed 388 days of action due to a hip injury, was nearly perfect in first leg of the last-16. Deployed as an attacking midfielder, Lamela was constantly hustling and hurrying Juventus defenders when they were in possession.
Former Tottenham defender Graham Roberts took to Twitter following the match to praise the Tottenham players’ performance.
Fantastic simply fantastic @mousadembele @ChrisEriksen8 and really thought @ErikLamela very good to. Proud of the side @SpursOfficial Coys
— Graham Roberts (@GrahamRoberts4) February 13, 2018
I understand why all the players in the spurs side love @mousadembele what a player
— Graham Roberts (@GrahamRoberts4) February 13, 2018
The two sides will meet at Wembley Stadium on March 7th in the return leg. Already, Tottenham executives are expected the club to attract one of its biggest attendances yet. Spurs are through to the next round thanks to the away goals rule at the moment. However, that could all change when the two teams meet in the away leg.
A number of Tottenham fans and football pundits also took to Twitter after the match to praise the team’s performance. Here is what some of the them wrote:
Putting all club rivalries aside, have to give Tottenham credit a lot of teams would have cracked when 2-0 down after eight minutes but Spurs showed great character to come back.
— SCHOLES (@iamscholes) February 13, 2018
Teams don't come back from 2 goals down at Juventus.
Tottenham did. pic.twitter.com/mRJ3bEJmLQ
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) February 13, 2018
Juventus-Tottenham 2-2 FT.
A huge wasted chance for Juve, that have let Tottenham playing their football instead than insisting pushing, which actually was perfectly working. Kudos to Spurs for sticking to their philosophy and having enough temperament not to let themselves away— Tancredi Palmeri (@tancredipalmeri) February 13, 2018
Tottenham came back from 2 goals down and held the Italian champions away is a big statement.
— Pangeran ⚜ (@pangeransiahaan) February 14, 2018
Creds to Tottenham for today though. Barca struggled at Juventus Stadium, but Tottenham pushed Juve and wanted to win the game at the end. Good stuff from them.
— hash (@hashim0307) February 13, 2018
While Erik Lamela and Mousa Dembele received a tremendous amount of praise, one former Tottenham player missed out on all of the excitement. On Tuesday, it was announced Ryan Mason has been forced to retire due to a fractured skull he suffered this season.
Tottenham Manager Mauricio Pochettino has left the door open for Mason to return to the club in some capacity.
Have your say! How important was Erik Lamela and Mousa Dembele in Tottenham’s away draw with Juventus?
