Leipzig are well placed to reach the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals for the first time, although they will know that they can take nothing for granted against a Spurs side who will look to their recent history in this competition for inspiration.
• Timo Werner’s second-half penalty was the only goal of the first leg at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on 19 February, the Germany striker converting after Konrad Laimer had been felled by Ben Davies. Leipzig therefore hold the edge as they look to extend what is only their second UEFA Champions League campaign, and first in the knockout stages, although Spurs have plenty of hope having reached last season’s final despite suffering a 1-0 home first-leg defeat in their semi-final against Ajax.
• Leipzig are one of two teams to be making their last-16 debut in 2019/20, alongside Atalanta.
Form guide
Leipzig
• Leipzig finished three points clear at the top of Group G, picking up seven of their 11 points on their travels thanks to wins at Benfica (2-1) and Zenit (2-0) before letting slip a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 at Lyon on Matchday 6. At home, they bounced back from losing 2-0 to eventual section runners-up Lyon by defeating Zenit 2-1 and drawing 2-2 with Benfica in their penultimate game to secure progress.
• Leipzig have won six of their 13 UEFA Champions League fixtures (D3 L4).
• The defeat of Zenit is Leipzig’s only victory in their last four European home matches (D2 L1). They had won five in a row before losing on Matchday 1 of the 2018/19 UEFA Europa League to Salzburg.
• Third in the Bundesliga last season and German Cup finalists, this is Leipzig’s third European campaign, and only their 32nd match. In 2017/18 they became the first team to make their European debut in the UEFA Champions League group stage, picking up seven points to finish third in a section including Beşiktaş, Porto and Monaco. They went on to reach the UEFA Europa League quarter-finals before losing to Marseille.
• Leipzig’s first European home game was a 1-1 draw against Monaco on Matchday 1 two years ago; also at home in that season’s group stage, they beat Porto 3-2 but lost 2-1 to Beşiktaş.
• This season’s results have made it two wins in six home UEFA Champions League matches for Leipzig (D2 L2).
• The first leg was Leipzig’s first European game against an English club.
• Leipzig’s record in two-legged knockout European ties is W5 L1, their 2017/18 loss to Marseille the sole defeat (1-0 h, 2-5 a).
• This is only the second time Leipzig have won away in the first leg in UEFA competition. They were 3-1 victors at Napoli in the 2017/18 UEFA Europa League round of 32 – their first knockout tie – and held on to progress on away goals despite a 2-0 home defeat.
• Leipzig have yet to feature in a UEFA penalty shoot-out.
Tottenham
• Spurs finished six points clear in second place in Group B despite losing both games against Bayern München, who ended with maximum points. Tottenham went down 3-1 in Germany on Matchday 6 having drawn 2-2 at Olympiacos, their other away match bringing a 4-0 victory at Crvena zvezda that was their record away success in the UEFA Champions League.
• Spurs also lost 7-2 at home to Bayern – the first time they had conceded seven goals at home in their 137-year history – but recovered in style with a 5-0 home win against Crvena zvezda, their biggest win in the competition. A last-16 place was secured as Spurs, in José Mourinho’s first European match since replacing Mauricio Pochettino as manager, came from two goals down to beat Olympiacos 4-2 in the fifth round of matches.
• In last season’s UEFA Champions League, Pochettino’s side recovered from taking one point from their first three games to reach the round of 16, where Borussia Dortmund were brushed aside (3-0 h, 1-0 a). Dramatic away-goal victories against both Manchester City (1-0 h, 3-4 a) and Ajax (0-1 h, 3-2 a) then took Spurs into a first European Cup final, but Premier League rivals Liverpool proved too strong at Madrid’s Estadio Metropolitano, running out 2-0 winners.
• Spurs had won only one of six games in the UEFA Champions League (D1 L4) before Matchday 3, but then recorded three successive victories before losing at Bayern and at home to Leipzig.
• This is only Spurs’ fourth UEFA Champions League round of 16 tie (W2 L1) – and they are unbeaten away from home at this stage. In 2010/11 they won 1-0 away to AC Milan and on aggregate; two seasons ago they drew 2-2 at Juventus in the first leg but bowed out after a 2-1 home defeat.
• Last season’s defeat of Dortmund at this stage means Spurs’ record in two-legged knockout ties against German clubs is W5 L3.
• The Lilywhites had won four consecutive matches against German clubs, home and away, all against Dortmund, before losing at home to Bayern on Matchday 2.
• Tottenham’s record in Germany is W5 D2 L7; the defeat at Bayern on Matchday 6 was only their second in their last seven visits (W3 D2).
• Their heaviest European defeat came in Germany – an 8-0 loss at Köln in the 1995 UEFA Intertoto Cup, the last time they had conceded seven goals before losing to Bayern on Matchday 2.
• Tottenham lost the first three UEFA competition ties in which they were beaten in the home first leg, but recovered to defeat Ajax in the most recent, going through on away goals in last season’s semi-final thanks to a second-half Lucas Moura hat-trick in Amsterdam having trailed 2-0 on the night and 3-0 on aggregate.
• That tie was the third instance in which Spurs had lost the home first leg 1-0, and the first aggregate victory; they were beaten by PSV Eindhoven in the 2007/08 UEFA Cup round of 16 (1-0 away, 5-6 penalties) and Real Madrid in the 1984/85 UEFA Cup quarter-finals (0-0 away). Having also drawn at Benfica in the 2013/14 UEFA Europa League round of 16 (1-3 h, 2-2 a), the win at Ajax extended Spurs’ record of having never lost the second leg after a first-leg home defeat.
• Tottenham’s record in three UEFA penalty shoot-outs is W1 L2:
4-3 v Anderlecht, 1983/84 UEFA Cup final
5-6 v PSV Eindhoven, 2007/08 UEFA Cup round of 16
1-4 v Basel, 2012/13 UEFA Europa League quarter-final
Links and trivia
• Leipzig’s Ethan Ampadu is on loan from Chelsea.
• Has played in Germany:
Heung-Min Son (Hamburg 2008–13, Bayer Leverkusen 2013–15)
• Have also played in England:
Ademola Lookman (Charlton 2013–17, Everton 2017–19)
Angeliño (Manchester City 2014–20)
• International team-mates:
Ethan Ampadu & Ben Davies (Wales)
• Have played together:
Christopher Nkunku & Serge Aurier (Paris Saint-Germain 2015–17)
Christopher Nkunku & Lucas Moura (Paris Saint-Germain 2015–18)
Dayot Upamecano, Christopher Nkunku & Tanguy Ndombélé (France Under-21)
Angeliño & Steven Bergwijn (PSV Eindhoven 2018/19)
• Harry Kane scored in England’s 5-0 win against Patrik Schick’s Czech Republic in a UEFA EURO 2020 qualifier on 22 March 2019.
• Dele Alli scored as England beat Emil Forsberg’s Sweden in the 2018 FIFA World Cup quarter-finals.
Latest news
Leipzig
• UEFA Champions League squad changes
In: Dani Olmo (Dinamo Zagreb), Philipp Tschauner, Angeliño (Manchester City, loan)
Out: Diego Demme (Napoli), Matheus Cunha (Hertha BSC Berlin), Marcelo Saracchi (Galatasaray, loan)
• Marcel Sabitzer made his 50th appearance in UEFA club competition in the first leg.
• Leipzig had won three competitive matches in a row before a 1-1 home draw against Leverkusen on 1 March. They were also held on Saturday, 0-0 at Wolfsburg.
• Three days after the victory in London, Leipzig prevailed 5-0 at Schalke, their highest ever Bundesliga away win.
• Angeliño scored his first goal for Leipzig at Schalke.
• Timo Werner has 27 goals in 35 club games this season.
• Tyler Adams, who extended his contract until 2025 on 1 March, suffered a calf injury on 12 February and has not played since, although he is back in training.
• Ethan Ampadu has missed Leipzig’s last two matches with a back problem.
• Kevin Kampl has been out since 25 November after surgery on his right ankle.
• Willi Orban has been absent since 30 October having suffered a knee injury that required an operation.
• A hip injury has kept Ibrahima Konaté on the sidelines since 2 October; he returned to team training on 26 February.
Tottenham
• UEFA Champions League squad changes
In: Steven Bergwijn (PSV), Hugo Lloris, Gedson Fernandes (Benfica, loan)
Out: Christian Eriksen (Inter), Danny Rose (Newcastle, loan), Kyle Walker-Peters (Southampton, loan), Victor Wanyama, Troy Parrott
• The first-leg defeat by Leipzig ended Spurs’ seven-match unbeaten run in all competitions (W5 D2). They have not won any of their last five matches (L3 D2), drawing 1-1 at Burnley on Saturday.
• Dele Alli’s penalty earned a point against Burnley, the England international’s 50th Premier League goal. Alli is the seventh player to reach the mark for Spurs, aged 23 years 331 days; only Harry Kane (23 years 44 days) was younger.
• Three days after losing to Leipzig, José Mourinho’s team went down 2-1 at his former club Chelsea. That and the draw at Burnley made it one win in Spurs’ last eight away matches in all competitions (D5 L2).
• Tottenham have won only four of their 21 away matches in all competitions this season (D10 L7).
• Mourinho’s side also went down 3-2 at home to Wolves in the Premier League on 1 March.
• Tottenham were knocked out of the FA Cup at home by Norwich on 4 March, losing 3-2 on penalties after a 1-1 draw.
• Tottenham have picked up 52 points from their last 41 Premier League games.
• Twenty-six of Tottenham’s 41 Premier League points this season have come at home; they have won only three away matches.
• Kane, who has 27 goals in 30 appearances for club and country this season and finished as the overall top scorer in UEFA EURO 2020 qualifying with 12 goals, has been out since 1 January. Having undergone surgery to repair a ruptured tendon in his left hamstring, he is expected to be back in action in April.
• Moussa Sissoko has also been out since 1 January and is not expected to return until April having had an operation to repair a ligament in his right knee.
• Heung-Min Son suffered a fractured arm in the 3-2 Premier League win at Aston Villa on 16 February and has not played since.
• Ryan Sessegnon was a late withdrawal from the side that lost at Chelsea on 22 February with a hip injury, and has not played since, although he was an unused substitute at Burnley.
• Hugo Lloris returned on Saturday having been out since that defeat at Chelsea due to a groin strain.
Official UEFA Champions League Man of the Match award introduced
UEFA will give out an official Man of the Match award after every UEFA Champions League knockout stage game to recognise the top performers in Europe’s top club competition. UEFA Technical Observers at each UEFA Champions League game from the round of 16 on will decide who deserves the Man of the Match, with an official award being handed to the successful players after full-time in recognition of their roles in decisive moments, tactical maturity, creativity and inspiration, exceptional skill and fair play.
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