The path towards glory was also the road towards Fernando Llorente’s hip.
If Tottenham Hotspur's route to territory they have not charted in 57 years came via the striker's arm, which the ball brushed before going in off his side for the decisive goal in Spurs' away-goal aggregate win over Manchester City, the very fact it was him was telling.
Llorente would probably have been sat on the bench but for Harry Kane’s ankle injury. Indeed, he was on the bench until Moussa Sissoko’s groin strain, which compelled his first-half withdrawal.
Erik Lamela, Harry Winks and Eric Dier would have been more natural replacements for a box-to-box midfielder than an immobile striker was, but they have hamstring, hip and groin problems respectively.
So would Mousa Dembele, but he left in January. Jack Grealish could have been a logical choice to take over from Sissoko, but Tottenham missed out on the Aston Villa man last year.
They became the first Premier League club since 2003 not to make a summer signing and the first Spurs side since 1962 to reach the European Cup semi-finals.
It is a tale of resourcefulness and resolve, of a capacity to adapt to adversity. It reflected Mauricio Pochettino’s can-do mentality.
“When you cannot do what another team does, you cannot complain,” the Argentine smiled afterwards. “You cannot sit and wait and cry. You must be strong and create the spirit that can complete this kind of performance.”
Pochettino’s capacity to extract more from his players was reflected by Llorente, the redeemed misfit. The Spaniard did not score in his first 16 Spurs appearances and has a solitary league goal this season. He represented a cumbersome presence in attack, but pressed into service, he delivered: not convincingly, but crucially.
Arguably Spurs’ two finest players this season represent triumphs of Pochettino’s management. Sissoko and Son Heung-min had underwhelming debut campaigns in London. Some of Tottenham’s continuity has been enforced by budgetary restrictions. They have found the answer within.
Son, football’s best odd-job man, stood in for Kane, scored twice within four minutes to complete a hat-trick of sorts over 23 minutes in the tie and reached 20 goals for the season.
The South Korean is suspended for the first leg of the semi-final against Ajax. Only someone as self-deprecatingly modest as Son could joke that his side might fare better without him and Spurs’ resources will be further stretched, but Pochettino excels in projecting positivity.
“If there is no Sonny and no Harry, it is another,” he said. “It is important to have the belief.”
He has allied it with ideas, reconfiguring the last men standing: three at the back against Borussia Dortmund, a midfield diamond at the Etihad, followed by two banks of four and eventually a fifth defender.
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Manchester City 3-4 Tottenham, 2018/19 Uefa Champions League quarter-final What a finish to an incredible encounter. A goal up on the night and with the tie at 4-4 on aggregate, City needed another to advance to the semi-final. They thought they had it when, deep into injury-time, Raheem Sterling shot past Hugo Lloris. The Etihad went wild in celebration, only for VAR to intervene. Sergio Aguero was marginally offside before squaring to Sterling. Somehow, Spurs advanced on away goals, the decider coming after VAR had been consulted on Fernando Llorente’s bump into the net. Getty Images -
Germany 1-0 Chile, 2017 Confederations Cup group stage VAR’s introduction to the international arena brought with it an instant controversy. In the second Group B game, taking place at the Kazan Arena, Chile’s Gonzalo Jara elbowed Germany’s Timo Werner off the ball. Having missed the incident live, referee Milorad Mazic took three minutes to review, and eventually awarded only a yellow card. It was a clear red. Reuters -
France 4-2 Croatia, 2018 World Cup final With football’s showpiece poised at 1-1 and half-time approaching in Moscow, France’s Blaise Matuidi flicked on a corner and the ball struck Croatian Ivan Perisic’s hand. The midfielder knew little about it. Referee Nestor Pitana signalled for a corner, before a VAR review overturned the decision and a penalty was awarded. Antoine Griezmann converted. France went on to win. Getty Images -
Al Jazira 1-2 Real Madrid 2, 2017 Club World Cup semi-final The UAE champions, tournament hosts, seemed set to cause a huge upset when they went 2-0 up against world champions Real Madrid at the beginning of the second half in Abu Dhabi. Zayed Sports City erupted. However, replays showed Mbark Boussoufa was marginally offside before shooting past Keylor Navas. There appeared to be mere millimetres in it. Madrid rebounded to win. Reuters -
Tottenham 1-0 Manchester City, 2018/19 Uefa Champions League quarter-final The first leg wasn’t free from VAR controversy either. With the match at the new Tottenham Hotspur Stadium only 12 minutes old, a sliding Danny Rose blocked Raheem Sterling’s shot and a corner was awarded. No one appealed. Then VAR intervened, and referee Bjorn Kuipers pointed to the spot. Spurs captain Hugo Lloris saved from Sergio Aguero, though, allowing the hosts to go on to take a first-leg lead to the Etihad. Reuters -
Paris Saint-Germain v Manchester United, 2018/19 Uefa Champions League last-16 On the brink of elimination, United were given a late-late reprieve at the Parc des Princes. In stoppage time, Diogo Dalot's ambitious shot cannoned off defender Presnel Kimpembe’s arm, alerting the VAR. Referee Damir Skomina soon decided it warranted a penalty, and Marcus Rashford scored. With the aggregate score at 3-3, United progressed on the away-goal rule. Getty Images -
Saudi Arabia 2-1 Egypt, 2018 World Cup group stage Goalkeeper Essam El Hadary had already made headlines by becoming the oldest player at a World Cup. Then, the 45-year-old Egytpian saved a controversial spot-kick from Fahad Al Muwallad. Yet his joy was short-lived, when later Al Muwallad went down in the area and, despite VAR showing the Saudi had hold of marker Ali Gabr’s shirt, referee Wilmar Roldan upheld his original call. Salman Al Faraj converted, and Saudi went on to win to secure a first World Cup victory in 24 years. Getty Images -
Iran 1-1 Portugal, 2018 World Cup group stage The final Group B match was compelling and contentious. Cristiano Ronaldo, who had earlier missed a penalty, was subject of a red-card review having swung his arm at Morteza Pouraliganji off the ball. However, referee Enrique Caceres deemed it only a yellow card. Iran exacted some revenge, though, scoring a stoppage-time penalty after Cedric Soares was harshly adjudged by VAR to have handled. The draw meant Portugal finished second, instead of top. AFP Photo -
Tottenham Hotspur 6-1 Rochdale, 2017/18 FA Cup fifth round VAR was introduced to the FA Cup that season, given an eventful debut in the fourth-round match between Liverpool and West Bromich Albion. It did not match the later shenanigans, however, when controversial calls littered Spurs’ game against Rochdale at Wembley. Erik Lamela’s goal was disallowed, Kieran Trippier’s free-kick was upgraded to a penalty, and Son Heung-Min’s spot-kick was ruled out after he stuttered his run-up. Manager Mauricio Pochettino called VAR "embarrassing". Getty Images -
Real Madrid 3-1 Atletico Madrid, 2018/19 Primera Liga The Madrid derby was provided typical drama when the hosts were awarded a first-half penalty with the match poised at 1-1. Atletico’s Jose Gimenez was deemed to have fouled Vinicious Junior in the area and the incident was referred to VAR. Much to the visitors’ bemusement, the decision stood despite seemingly taking place outside the box, leaving Sergio Ramos to thrash home from the spot. Madrid took local bragging rights. Getty Images
Tottenham have progressed despite their recent (lack of) transfer business and the underlying economics. Their wage bill last season was only £2 million (Dh9.5m) more than Everton’s. They have flourished at brinkmanship, playing sudden death since taking a lone point from their first three group games.
The margins have been narrow; a distraught Sissoko went to the dressing room thinking they had been eliminated by Raheem Sterling's injury-time 'goal', scarcely realising it was disallowed. They were subject to an onslaught. Kevin de Bruyne delivered one of the great performances in a losing cause; Sterling, Sergio Aguero and Bernardo Silva were almost as good.
Tottenham had a reserve in attack, a makeshift central midfield and two struggling full-backs. They nonetheless prevailed in one of the Champions League’s epic ties.
From the ruins of an European campaign that threatened to end ignominiously in autumn, Pochettino and his ever more depleted group of understudies and the unlikely have constructed something very special.
