Tottenham Hotspur will need to overturn a first-leg deficit against AZ Alkmaar in North London in the Europa League on Thursday night if they are to keep any hopes of silverware this season alive.
Lucas Bergvall's freak own goal is all that separates the sides following last Thursday's clash in the Netherlands, with a place in the quarter-finals against Eintracht Frankfurt or Ajax up for grabs.
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.jpg?w=640&h=480&auto=compress,format&fit=clip "Son Heung-Min celebrates scoring for Tottenham Hotspur against Hoffenheim on January 23, 2025")
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The defeat last week for Spurs means they have now won just one of their previous nine first-leg away matches in Europe, with the solitary success coming in the last 32 of this competition against Wolfsburger behind closed doors in 2021.
This has rapidly become the most important game of the season for manager Ange Postecoglou, whose promise of winning a trophy this season is under serious threat.
FA and EFL Cup glory have both fallen by the wayside recently, leaving the Europa League as their only remaining opportunity to end the near-two-decade wait for silverware.
Spurs ended the league phase in fourth, and took 10 points from a possible 12 at home, including a 1-0 win over AZ, so there will not be many people panicking ahead of this one, despite the current deficit.
Keeping things tight at the back could be the key, because the hosts have scored in each of their previous 29 Europa League home matches - a competition record - meaning the goals should take care of themselves, but keeping them out at the other end has proven troublesome.
Bournemouth scored twice at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday, and Postecoglou's side were fortunate not to be more than 2-0 down before their late fightback.
That point keeps them down in 13th, 10 points off the top eight, so most of their focus will now be on Europe, and they are the favourites, especially considering they have won four of their last five home matches against Dutch clubs.
The only exception in that run was when Ajax won 1-0 here in the 2019 Champions League semi-finals, but Spurs still advanced to the final following the dramatic late comeback in Amsterdam.
For AZ, there was very little down for them ahead of this first leg, but they ended a 10-game winless run against English sides by beating Spurs a week ago.
However, they remain the big outsiders, because they have lost on all nine of their previous trips to England in Europe - the worst such 100% losing run any club has suffered in European football history.
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Form on the road in general is worrisome for Maarten Martens's side, because AZ have not won any of their last 10 away games on the continent, and they will equal their worst-ever streak if they fail to win again in this one.
Fortunately for the visitors, they were allowed to postpone their league fixture against Waalwijk at the weekend to give them the maximum time possible to prepare for this one.
It has been an astonishingly good 2025 for the AZ supporters so far, excelling on three fronts, as they beat Turkish giants Galatasaray 6-3 on aggregate to get this far.
Since losing to Ferencvaros on matchday eight of the league phase, AZ have won seven of their nine matches across all competitions, keeping them in the race for the top three in the Eredivisie.
The biggest win of them all was against Heracles Almelo in the semi-finals of the KNVB Beker though, setting up a shot at silverware against Go Ahead Eagles in the final next month.
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Spurs will be without midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur after his yellow card in the first leg has triggered a one-match suspension, but with Archie Gray and Bergvall only named as substitutes at the weekend, Postecoglou has more than enough options to cover.
Micky van den Ven and Cristian Romero both returned from lengthy absences at the weekend and could well be the starting duo at centre-back here, especially with Radu Dragusin and Ben Davies both out injured.
Dejan Kulusevski is the big miss at present for Tottenham, because the Swede has contributed to 20 goals across all competitions this season, while Richarlison, who scored the only goal when they beat AZ in the league phase, is also currently sidelined.
AZ will be without Mayckel Lahdo after he was forced off inside just 10 minutes during the first leg, and his replacement, Denso Kasius, also had to be withdrawn shortly after the hour mark.
Those two will join influential duo Sven Mijnans and Ruben van Bommel on the sidelines, while young attacking pair Jayden Addai and Mexx Meerdink are also out injured.
Former Spurs boy Troy Parrott should lead the line again, hoping to score against the club where he broke through as a youngster, after failing to do so in their two previous meetings this season.
Tottenham Hotspur possible starting lineup:
Vicario; Pedro Porro, Van de Ven, Romero, Udogie; Bergvall, Gray, Maddison; Johnson, Solanke, Son
AZ Alkmaar possible starting lineup:
Owusu-Oduro; Maikuma, Goes, Penetra, Wolfe; Clasie, Buurmeester, Koopmeiners; Poku, Parrott, Sadiq
We say: Tottenham Hotspur 4-1 AZ Alkmaar
Spurs have been very good at home in Europe this season, barring a few nervy minutes at the end against Roma, scoring nine goals in their four league phase matches here, and the team will be under no illusions over how important this match is for their season.
AZ have lost on all previous nine trips to England, and while they will certainly get chances in front of goal here, they will feel as though they missed a big opportunity not winning by more goals in the first leg, where they were largely dominant.
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Andrew Delaney
