Result: Tottenham Hostpur 0-1 RB Leipzig
Date: 19 February 2020
Venue: Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
Tottenham Hotspur's chances of reaching the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League took a knock after going down 1-0 to RB Leipzig in the first leg of their Last 16 tie.
Spurs manager Jose Mourinho made two changes from their win over Aston Villa, as January signing Gedson Fernandes and Giovanni Lo Celso came to the fore with Lucas Moura and Deli Alli relied upon for goals upfront in the absence of Son Heung-Min and Harry Kane.
Leipzig almost grabbed an early lead in just the second minute of the match after Angelino latched onto a blocked effort from Timo Werner and unleashed a cracking strike that came off the post.
While Spurs struggled in the final third, Werner had a good chance to break the deadlock for the visitors with nine minutes left of the first stanza after cutting inside from the left channel but after taking one too many touches he was eventually denied by Spurs goalkeeper Hugo Lloris.
Spurs looked lively in the early parts of in the second stanza but they conceded a penalty four minutes before the hour-mark after Ben Davies brought down Konrad Laimer. Werner stepped up and dispatched a clinical low strike to put his side one goal ahead.
Leipzig should have been two goal up just after the hour-mark after Werner dummied a through ball to reach Patrik Schick, who was left unmarked but the striker was unable to fire past Lloris.
Mourinho made a double change immediately after that, as he brought on and Erik Lamela and Tanguy Ndombele replaced Alli and Fernandes as the hosts went in search of an equaliser.
The double change revived Spurs and they nearly levelled matters in the 73rd minute as Lo Celso unleashed a curling free-kick but Leipzig goalkeeper Peter Gulasci tipped his effort onto the outside of the post.
Tottenham came close again in the last five minutes through Lamela's free-kick from range that was threatening but parried away by Gulasci while Moura headed over two minutes later.
In the end, Leipzig held on for the win and will take a 1-0 lead back to Germany for the second leg in three weeks.
