The best that could be said for Spurs’ endeavours was that they did not lose and, if they are to reach the knockout stage, staying afloat in awkward away ties will be a necessary skill. That does not deflect from the fact this must have been a grim watch for Thomas Frank, whose side should have been well beaten by an inventive and ambitious Monaco. They could thank Guglielmo Vicario, who made five vital saves, in large part, and also bore witness to some wasteful home finishing. In attack they barely created a ripple, an intermittent threat fading to virtually nothing.
Tottenham’s task was to make an evening in the reliably weird surroundings of Stade Louis II appear routine. Two gaping corner sections were completely empty and what noise the home ultras could muster drifted into the unseasonably balmly Côte d’Azur air. Nonetheless this venue had warmed up three weeks previously when Manchester City were pegged back at the last and Monaco, under the management of Sébastien Pocognoli, seemed an obvious banana skin.
Eric Dier had scored the leveller from the spot against City but missed this reunion with his former employers owing to a hamstring injury. He had watched from the sidelines earlier in the day when Spurs’ Under-19s beat their local counterparts. Monaco were missing six first-teamers although Tottenham, particularly light in defence, could outdo them with 10 absentees of varying cause and severity.
