Tottenham: From Champions League Final to Humiliating Defeat
From contesting the final to suffering one of the most humiliating defeats of the tournament. In just four months, Tottenham has gone from touching glory in the Champions League to enduring the cruelty of a competition where lack of competitiveness and tension is severely punished.
The devastating blow against Bayern Munich (2-7) stings even more because one of its executioners was, coincidentally, a player like Serge Gnabry, developed in the youth academy of one of its eternal rivals, Arsenal. The 24-year-old winger took full advantage of his speed and ball-carrying ability and tormented a defense of the Spurs that could do nothing to stop the storm. His four goals were nothing more than the culmination of a dream night.
"Of course, I am very happy about tonight. Happy to have scored four goals, my first goals in the Champions League. But especially happy with the team's victory. It's a great win. It's a good sign for us. We knew they would leave a lot of space behind their defense because they pressed us a lot. In the end, I think we kept the ball very well in the second half and took advantage of our chances," the attacker admitted after the match.
Although he already managed to establish himself in Bayern's first team last season, this match and the consequences that may arise from it reaffirm that his decision to leave Emirates Stadium in 2016 was a smart move. "I was sure I could play in the team, but I didn't want to wait. I didn't want to be the fourth or fifth option. Leaving a club like Arsenal was the hardest decision I had to make. But in hindsight, it was the right decision," he acknowledged.
Logically, considering that in the world of football the distance between success and failure is usually very small, Gnabry must take advantage of the wave to continue growing and become one of the new leaders of a squad that has slowly begun to regenerate its lineup.