Son Heung-min returned to the UEFA Europa League after three games and played 45 minutes.
It was a game that made people wonder why he played. It was a method that made it hard for coach Anji Postecoglou to recruit Son, whose intention was unknown.
Tottenham, one of the top contenders to win the tournament, suffered its first defeat in the tournament as it lost to Galatasaray, an ambush, while Son Heung-min was deployed in an ambiguous manner. Three more wins are expected in the remaining four games to advance to the quarterfinals.
Tottenham lost 2-3 to Galatasaray, their home team and Turkiye reputation, in the fourth round of the 2024-2025 Europa League phase at Rams Park in Istanbul, Turkiye on the 8th.
Son Heung-min, who returned from injury through the Premier League's Aston Villa match on the 3rd, started on the left wing and played 45 minutes in the first half. At the start of the second half, he was replaced by Dejan Kulusevski, who is in the spotlight as an attacking midfielder this season.
However, as Tottenham failed to catch Victor Osimhen, Son's participation in the match was also tarnished. Osimhen, who played for Italy's Napoli with Kim Min-jae in the 2022-2023 season and led the team to the Serie A championship, showed off his skills through a simple ending. He scored multiple goals against big Premier League clubs.
With the loss, Tottenham ended up with three wins and one loss (nine points) to rank seventh among the 36 teams that participated in the league phase. The team had three consecutive wins and soared to second place, but its ranking dropped sharply due to the loss.
Rather, Galatasaray raced with 3 wins and 1 draw (10 points) and an unbeaten run, ranking third after Lazio (12 points) and the Ajax (10 points).
UEFA has changed the way it will compete with clubs starting this season. Instead of dividing teams into groups and holding a group league, the teams that advance to the finals will be divided into ports, and eight teams will be randomly selected through home-and-away competitions. Only teams ranking first through eighth out of the 36 teams will advance to the tournament. Those ranking ninth through 24th will have to go through the playoffs, while those ranking lower will be eliminated from the group qualifying round.
Tottenham's goal is to finish in the top eight and go straight to the round of 16 tournaments, but the defeat has caused some setbacks.
On this day, Galatasaray, the home team, chose a 3-4-1-2 formation. Abdulkherim Bardakchi, Khan Ayhan and Davinson Sanchez formed three backs, with Uruguay goalkeeper Fernando Muslera defending the goal. Yunus Akguin, Gabriel Sara, Lucas Torreira and Varsh Alper Ilmaz were in midfield, and Dries Mertons was in the second line. Mauro Icardi and Osimhen made two-top.
The away team Tottenham played in a 4-3-3 formation. Fraser Forster defended the goal instead of the main goalkeeper Gugliemo Vicario. Archie Gray, Ben Davies, Radu Dragusin and Pedro Porro were in charge of defense.
Tottenham manager Anji Postecoglou excluded about half of key players from the starting lineup, including key centers Christian Romero and Mickey van der Penn, as well as strikers Dominique Solanke and left back Destiny Udogi.
On the day, Son started the game unexpectedly. As Hishalisson was injured at the match against Aston Villa and left wingers including Timo Werner and Mikey Moore were also excluded from the away list, Son, who had just returned from injury, had no choice but to play.
However, the match was ambiguous. For Tottenham, it would be better to let Son rest for the next match against Ipswich in the Premier League on November 11, or to let a large number of top-tier players including Son in order to win the match. As Son, who is powerful, was substituted after playing in the first half of this season, Tottenham lost the match and ended up with no profit.
In the meantime, Son Heung-min contributed to Will Rankshire's equalizer in the 18th minute of the first half.
Son Heung-min, who was breaking along the left touchline near the half-line, had the ball until the end even though he tripped over the opponent's defense. Gray, who took over the ball, crossed a long cross to Johnson, who was on the right side of the penalty area, and Johnson quickly connected it to Rankshire, who was on the other side. When Rankshire scored a right-footed volley, Tottenham made it 1-1.
Son Heung-min's struggle, which he delivered to his teammates without losing the ball despite the opponent's checks, contributed a lot to the goal.
Tottenham, which is vulnerable to set-piece defense this season, lost to Arkguin in the 6th minute of the first half, but Rankshire scored an equalizer in time.
But Tottenham was only good until they made it 1-1. After Lancashire's equalizer, Tottenham allowed an extra goal due to a fatal mistake by their defense.
In the 31st minute of the first half, Galatasaray players pressed low-speed center back Dragusin to take the ball away, and Mertons quickly poked the pass. Osimhen shook off the Tottenham players' checks and kicked a right-footed shot. Osimhen threw the mask and performed a ceremony.
Osimhen made it 3-1 in the 39th minute by only changing the direction of the ball with a light right-footed volley of Mertons' right side cross from the gate.
Several young players including Gray, Rankshire and Dragusin played with Son as starters for Tottenham. Osimhen, who was the top scorer in Serie A, and Mertons, who was one of the pillars of Belgium's golden generation, frequently showed loopholes in their high-class play.
At the start of the second half, Tottenham excluded Son Heung-min and Johnson and put Rodrigo Bentancur and Dejan Kulusevski for the next match against Ipswich in the Premier League on the 11th.
However, in the 15th minute of the second half, Tottenham was understated in numbers as Rankshire, who scored on the day, received two yellow cards.
Fortunately, he scored a chasing goal even with one fewer field player, but that was it.
Tottenham scored a comeback goal in the 24th minute of the second half when Pedro Porro laid it low to the gate in the right penalty area, and Solanke, who was positioned near the net, sensibly turned it with his right heel.
However, he failed to score another goal afterwards. His ranking also fell from third to seventh.
Meanwhile, Lee's team, Meat Willan of Denmark, was completely defeated by FCSB 0-2. Lee was excluded from the list. Meat Willan (seven points), who recorded two wins, one draw and one loss in the league phase, was ranked 13th.
While the fourth round, half of the eight rounds in the league phase, has ended, Lazio, the Italian powerhouse, are leading the league with 12 points from all four rounds. Ahax (the Netherlands), Galatasaray, Eintracht Frankfurt (Germany), Anderlecht (Belgium), and Athletic Bilbao (Spain) have 10 points to share the second to sixth places. Tottenham and Romanian club FCSB are in the top eight with nine points. 토토사이트