Tottenham’s darkest European nights after AC Milan flop, including a Bayern Munich thrashing and Cologne humiliation
TOTTENHAM fans you might want to look away now.
Spurs might have been the first British team to win a European trophy, when Bill Nicholson’s 1963 side thrashed Atletico Madrid 5-1 to win the European Cup Winners’ Cup.
But there’s also been a whole lot of embarrassment along the way.
The limp goalless draw against AC Milan that saw Tottenham tumble out of the knockout stages was the latest underwhelming result.
Unfortunately for Spurs, there have been even darker European nights – here are just a few…
DINAMO ZAGREB 3-0 SPURS
It looked like job done at the end of this first-leg last 16 Europa League tie in March 2021.
Two goals from Harry Kane meant Spurs were taking a comfortable lead to Croatia.
But then came an embarrassing, unforeseen collapse as Zagreb – without a manager after Zoran Mamic faced charges of fraud – beat Spurs 3-0 after extra-time of the second-leg.
Jose Mourinho would be sacked weeks later as his largely miserable reign as Tottenham boss came to an abrupt end.
SPURS 2-7 BAYERN MUNICH
On their way to winning the Champions League in 2020, the Bavarians put a Spurs side to the sword in London in 2019.
And things started brightly, with Son Heung-min giving the home side a lead after 12 minutes.
However, three minutes later the Germans were level with a Joshua Kimmich strike.
Then, former Arsenal star Serge Gnabry stole the show – netting four times in a remarkable second half that saw Bayern Munich score five times to record a 7-2 win.
COLOGNE 8-0 SPURS
German sides have got previous when it comes to playing Spurs on their own patch and giving them a hiding.
But in fairness to Tottenham, this was an Intertoto Cup they didn’t really want to be in.
They played a weakened side full of kids in 1995, while Cologne went full-strength.
It was 4-0 at half-time, and it didn’t get much better in the second half as the Bundesliga side ran riot.
GENT 1-0 SPURS
It was the precursor of what was to come.
Gent weren’t exactly Belgium’s most-feared team, but they put the willies up Tottenham back in 2017 in the Europa League.
In the first leg, they defeated the North London side 1-0, which in truth could’ve been more.
It set them up nicely for the second leg, where they managed to draw 2-2 and knock Tottenham out at the last-32 stage.
RB LEIPZIG 3-0 SPURS
In 2020, Mourinho’s side were handed a lesson by RB Leipzig in the Champions League.
Going into the second leg a goal down, Spurs were more open than usual.
And the attacking threat the German side, who reached the semi-finals last season, was too much for an injury-hit Tottenham team.
It was 2-0 after 21 minutes, and from then on in it was damage limitation. Spurs ended up losing 3-0 on the night, 4-0 on aggregate.
REAL MADRID 4-0 SPURS
In 2011, former Arsenal man Emmanuel Adebayor came back to haunt Spurs scoring a double at the Bernabeu.
Before the game, manager Harry Redknapp said it was a “dream” to go further – but if it was it must’ve been a nightmare.
Di Maria and then Ronaldo added gloss to proceedings, as Los Blancos won the game with ease – 4-0 in this first leg of a Champions League quarter-final.
Spurs’ ambitions for glory were over, pretty much, at the half-time point of this tie.
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BORUSSIA DORTMUND 3-0 SPURS
Before Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang turned up at Arsenal, he was tormenting Spurs in the Champions League in 2016.
The Gabon striker registered the opener, before Marco Reus gave the Germans breathing space in the first leg round of 16 with a further two goals.
A 3-0 lead was impossible for Spurs to turn around.
To add insult to injury they Aubameyang scored twice in the second leg, and it finished 5-1 on aggregate.