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UEFA Champions League: Ilicic scores 4 as Atalanta reach QFs; Mourinho's Spurs ousted by Leipzig

Associated Press Tuesday, 10 March 2020, 23:48 Last update: about 7 years ago

After watching Tottenham go meekly out of the Champions League with a 3-0 loss to Leipzig on Tuesday, Jose Mourinho said his injury-ravaged squad was “not even a team” anymore.

Tottenham certainly looked nothing like the side that reached last season's final under Mauricio Pochettino, as Marcel Sabitzer scored twice in the first half to send the Champions League's youngest coach and club into the quarterfinals.

Sabitzer's goals helped give Leipzig a 4-0 win on aggregate and deepened the gloom over Mourinho's Tottenham, which hasn't won a game in nearly a month.

“We are really in trouble. We are not even a team, we are a group of players that are available to play, and we try to build a team,” Mourinho said in televised comments, bemoaning Tottenham's run of injuries to key players. “We have no attacking players, we don't hurt opponents. That's as simple as that. So opponents, they feel very comfortable to have a go at us, because they know that we cannot hurt them.”

Tottenham came back from a 3-0 aggregate deficit against Ajax to reach last year's final, but a comeback never looked likely in Leipzig.

Instead of the Lucas Moura hat trick which turned the Ajax game, Tottenham produced a limp second-half showing against Leipzig and eventually conceded again.

Tottenham is without a win in its last six games in all competitions. All that's left for Mourinho's team this season is the Premier League, where it's eighth, seven points off the Champions League places.

Just 11 years after it was founded by drinks giant Red Bull, Leipzig is in the last eight of the Champions League. At 32, Julian Nagelsmann is the youngest coach to reach that stage.

With Harry Kane, Son Heung-min and most recently Steven Bergwijn all injured, Tottenham seemed drained of energy and devoid of ideas.

Leipzig took just 10 minutes to double its advantage from the first leg. Timo Werner had one shot blocked on a quick team move, but picked up the loose ball and cut it back to Sabitzer, who scored with a powerful low drive from just outside the penalty area.

For the second goal, Tottenham right-back Serge Aurier misjudged his attempt to head away a long pass and allowed Angelino plenty of time to cross for Sabitzer to head in at the near post.

“It was a lot of fun and it's an evening for the history books,” said Sabitzer, who became the first Austrian to score two goals in a single Champions League knockout game. “Tonight I'll be sleeping really badly with all those thoughts going through my head.”

Leipzig's U.S. international Tyler Adams made his Champions League debut as a 56th-minute substitute when defender Nordi Mukiele was taken off for treatment after being struck in the face by the ball.

Dele Alli had the best of Tottenham's few chances in the second half, but could only knock the ball into goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi's arms as he was tackled by Leipzig's Marcel Halstenberg.

Leipzig finished the job when Emil Forsberg scored a third goal in a scramble for a loose ball in the 87th, less than half a minute after coming on as a substitute.

The game was played with a full stadium despite growing concerns in Germany over the global virus outbreak.

Tuesday's other Champions League game, Atalanta's 4-3 win over Valencia to advance 8-4 on aggregate, was played in an empty stadium. Most of this weekend's German league games will take place in similar conditions.

 

Josip Ilicic scored four goals as Champions League newcomer Atalanta reached the quarterfinals with a 4-3 win over Valencia on Tuesday in a match played in an empty stadium because of the coronavirus outbreak.

With Atalanta holding a comfortable 4-1 lead from the first leg in Italy, Ilicic scored twice in each half at the deserted Mestalla Stadium as Atalanta advanced 8-4 on aggregate.

The 32-year-old Slovenian, who also scored in the first match, became the first player to score four goals away from home in a Champions League knockout match. He has 17 goals in his last 13 games.

It didn't take long before Atalanta increased its lead from the first leg, with Ilicic converting a third-minute penalty after being fouled inside the area by Valencia defender Mouctar Diakhaby.

Forward Kevin Gameiro equalized for Valencia from inside the area in the 21st, but Ilicic virtually ended Valencia's hopes of a comeback by converting another penalty in the 43rd after a handball by Diakhaby.

The two away goals meant the hosts needed to score at least five more times to have a chance of advancing.

Gameiro added Valencia's second goal with a header in the 51st and Ferrán Torres scored on a breakaway in the 67th, but Ilicic secured the win with goals from inside the area in the 71st and 82nd.

Several hundred Valencia fans were outside the Mestalla to welcome Valencia's squad before the match and could be heard chanting during the game.

Spain announced Tuesday all sports events with a significant number of fans have to be played in empty stadiums for the next 15 days to try to contain the spread of the coronarivus after a sharp increase in the number of cases in the country. The decision to play the Valencia game without fans had already been made in advance because of the high number of cases in Italy.

It remained unclear if Atalanta will be able to play its quarterfinal match at home amid Italy's nation-wide quarantine measures because of the virus. The team is based in Bergamo and plays its home European games at the San Siro Stadium in Milan.

After the first leg in Italy, Valencia had banned its players from all media availability because a journalist who traveled to cover the team was found to be infected with the coronavirus.

Atalanta's best European campaigns until now came when it reached the semifinals of the 1988 European Cup Winners Cup. It also made it to the quarterfinals of the 1991 UEFA Cup.

Valencia was playing in the last 16 of the Champions League for the first time since 2013.

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