Eintracht Frankfurt (Germany) (Away) 28.01.2026

Employing a 3-4-3 formation probably due to player absences and a necessity to get something form the game to maintain a place in the top eight of the Champions League table, Thomas Frank went with Randal Kolo Muani up front flanked by Wilson Odobert and Xavi Simons, while Frankfurt were without the forward Elye Wahi and Can Uzun, so tried to strengthen the midfield by playing five there.

Xavi Simons had the ball in the net after one minute and 52 seconds as Randal Kolo Muani did well to get down the left along and then into the box along the dead-ball line before his low cross was palmed outby the keeper just outside the six yard area and Xavi stuck the ball into the net.  Nobody was quite sure why it had been disallowed, but the Spanish ref put his own twist on events to rule the goal out.  The replays shown appeared that it was given for a foul by Destiny Udogie, pulling back a defender … or maybe offside, who knows !

When Wilson Odobert won a corner on the right with 12 minutes gone, it was played very long by Simons and Cristian Romero headed it back into the middle, where Joao Palhinha’s downward header was pushed wide by the keeper.  The next effort on goal came in the 22nd minute when a passage of good passing opened Frankfurt up for Archie Gray produced a pass for Pape Matar Sarr to have a shot from outside the box, but it went high over the crossbar.  Kolo Muani put in a nice cross into the middle of the box, which Destiny missed altogether and Odobert wasn’t expecting the ball to pop onto him, so the ball bounced away off his chest, although Wilson came closer a minute later when Xavi exchanged passes with him and his left foot shot from outside the box struck the foot of the keeper’s left hand post.  Another minute and another big opportunity.  The keeper passed the ball straight to Simons in the area and Xavi ran it around one defender and then tried to flick it over the keeper as he dived at his feet, but it was blocked and the chance evaporated.

A minute before half-time, a long pass forward got Larsson in behind the Spurs defence and from inside the right side of the area his shot was over Vicario, but glanced the top of the bar on its way over the goal.  It was a warning that despite the possession and control Tottenham had, it is necessary to put this game to bed, as there is always the chance of a home goal.   

After the break, a free-kick on the left gave Spurs the chance to work it short before playing it back to Simons, who played a great cross to the far post for Romero to head the ball into the goalmouth, where Randal Kolo Muani turned the ball into the net, perhaps with a touch off Theate, but Spurs were ahead quicker in the second half than when they had the ball in the net in the first.  It was the goal that Tottenham needed, but it was still a tenuous lead.

Brown was screaming and play-acting trying to get Djed into trouble, but the referee was alive to it thankfully.  Seven minutes into the second period Skhiri played a smart ball into the Spurs box and Buta got in behind Udogie, but, totally free ten yards out, his flick wasn’t enough to take it past Vic and the ball dribbled through to the keeper.  Knauff then looked to race away from Kevin Danso, but when he stopped just outside the box, his standing foot went from underneath him, although that didn’t stop him wanting a free-kick.  The ref waved play on. 

On the hour, Kevin launched a long throw that came back out to him and his cross was met well by Randal’s forehead that had the keeper scrambling across his goal towards the far post with the ball going a foot wide.  Spurs were moving well with Djed putting a low cross into the box, which Kolo Muani couldn’t control and Xavi laid it back to Pape, who looked to curl a low shot inside the post, but the keeper went down to his left to push it wide.  Working the corner short, Spurs lost the ball but won it back to prevent Frankfurt breaking away.

Xavi was looking to take players on, but Hojlund stopped him with a strong body-check that the referee didn’t deem worthy of a booking.  A short free-kick between Simons and Romero lined Xavi up for a shot, but a few Spurs players were offside, with the ball hitting one of them and going wide.  A corner almost brought a second Tottenham goal as Xavi tried a shot with the ball bouncing off a defender to pop up allowing Cristian to head at goal, but it went straight to the keeper.  Soon after, Dominic Solanke came on for Wilson Odobert, who had just taken a knock and it proved very effective.  A ball through from Palhinha came off Dahoud’s head and sent Solanke through and he advanced the ball into the box, just to the right and slid the ball wide to the left of the keeper to double Tottenham’s lead with 13 minutes left.  It was a clinical finish and might just be what Spurs have been missing.

After Palhinha was booked for a blatant body-check just outside the box on the Spurs right (which was a little unnecessary), Amenda took the law into his own hands as Spurs broke away, pushing Simons down before doing the same to Spence.  The free-kick was played in and was put out for a corner, but there wasn’t time to take it as the game came to an end, with a place in the top eight that avoids the need for a play-off and a home game in the second leg of the Round of 16.

It was a more composed performance, with little panicky passing, although there were still occasions when a better ball might have stretched Frankfurt a little more.  Xavi was all over the pitch today, putting a lot of effort in defensively, as well as in a forward position as he seemed to revel in this free role.  There was barely a poor individual performance among the team, with the defence doing what they needed to do and restricting the home side to a handful of openings.  Gray and Sarr did well in midfield, winning possession and moving the ball on, while Destiny and Djed gave width up and down the wings.  Randal took his goal well and while some might question his commitment, he gave a lot today, while Wilson occupied the defence with his runs up the line.

Amazingly, this was the sixth clean sheet in the competition for Spurs and the much maligned defence has done a good job.  Yes, they let in five against Paris Saint Germain, but that was a mad match and to finish fourth in the table is bonkers considering we are currently 14th in the Premier League.  At least it means two less games and more time on the training pitch to get things right, so when the next round takes place in March, when we will face one of Galatasaray, Juventus, Club Brugge or Atletico Madrid (easy, huh ?) there may be some of our long-term injured players back in the side.  But until then it is back to concentrating on the form back in our own league.

• Cristian Romero was UEFA’s Man of the Match.
• Spurs qualified for the Round of 16 having kept the most clean sheets – six – in the league phase.
• Marvin Dills made his debut for Eintracht Frankfurt.