Whose Got the Blues?

Manchester City who have spent millions on a dream to win the Champions League inexplicably fell at the quarter-final hurdle again today in match that was one for the ages. A classic that was best watched as one of those forever memorable moments where literally victory came at the jaws and clutches of defeat.

As Pep Guardiola went ecstatic as a last minute fumble from Erikson allowed Sergio Aguero to rifle home what seemed like a game winning fifth goal in injury time, along came VAR and the first major talking point for video review. Without VAR Spurs were out, done and dusted. With VAR what seemed like another heart-breaking loss for Spurs turned into an even bigger heart-breaking loss for Manchester City. City were still 4-3 ahead but that away goal Spurs got in the first leg of this of this two game series was enough to break the overall 4-4 tie.

When all the euphoria of the game goes away, we may forget that it was the much criticized goal-keeper Hugo Lloris who over the two games was the gigantic difference maker. From the moment he saved a penalty award in the first game and saw VAR rule offside in the dying minutes of today's game, his saves at critical points in the game were the line between failure and success. Then there is Moussa Sissoko, who after 38 minutes got injured and was replaced by a striker Fernando Llorente. Sissoko missing form the heart of the defensive midfield allowed City to turn Tottenham into mush, which simply shows how much Spurs have relied on him to keep Spurs strong in the center.

City fans will be sick to their stomach that this is a golden chance to win a Champions League, but they need to take pause and realize that the team awaiting in the semi-finals is no push over. That team is Ajax Amsterdam. Ajax who went to Italy and beat Juventus, and then went to Spain and beat Real Madrid are a team filled with youngsters which are the stars of world football. Matthew De Ligt will be going to Barcelona - which gives Barcelona a great defensive option next year and the hawks are out again to see what bargains Ajax will offer.

Tottenham are a team that has benefited from the Ajax youth system, and all four former Ajax players were playing for Spurs today - Vertoghen, Alderweireld, Erikson and then coming on for his sub appearance - Sanchez. The game seemed to be secure once Spurs full-back Danny Rose was taken off near the end, but it was Erikson who coffed up the ball to City, which led to frenzied celebrations. And then VAR played its big part in defining and re-routing Spurs into the semi-finals.

In 1981 Tottenham met Manchester City in the 100th FA Cup Final. The game finished 1-1 and went to a reply, also played at the old Wembley Stadium. For City fans on that day, saw their team climb into a 2-1 lead, but Spurs came back finishing with a goal that is still one of the greatest ever scored - which was Ricky Villa score a sensational third to win 3-2. City fans from that moment took a dislike to Tottenham, because the memory of that defeat seared into their hearts. This was a City team back then who were not financed by billionaires or a nation state, it was a big deal and from that moment Spurs became enemy number one for City, surpassing even their cross town rivals Manchester United. For Spurs bigger than winning the 100th FA Cup Final, it was that Ricky Villa goal that was recorded into Tottenham legend :

Today, was not a final, it was not even a semi-final but it was one of those moments which will register with both sets of supporters. That Tottenham come back to Manchester City on Saturday for a Premier League game is now less consequential, even if City punish Spurs for this result, there are moments which are just markers of great memory. That is because football like all great things in life is about the story and soccer's tribalism adds in the great injection that is called pure unbridled emotion. The story written today is one that will be remembered for a long-long time. It will of course have greater significance if Spurs go on and win the Champions League this year, but with Liverpool and Barcelona as the only two possible teams they can meet, Spurs will need the kind of VAR miracle they got today at Manchester City. The story of Ricky Villa is complete because his goal won Spurs a trophy, and we need to remember that Spurs have not yet won anything under the management of Mauricio Pochettino, but now they are just two or three wins from realizing that. Yet we need to understand the other story that is unfolding in the Champions League, that of Ajax Amsterdam.

No one would begrudge Ajax reaching the Champions League final, which includes Tottenham, considering that a quarter of the first team squad of Spurs is ex-Ajax. Then there is Barcelona, who were inspired by the "Total Football" of the great dutch soccer genius "Johan Cruyff", whose philosophy became and still is the bedrock of Barcelona's game - and that Total Football genius came from Cruyff's three successive European Cup wins with Ajax Amsterdam. That was way before Ajax became a selling club and back in the day when success equaled keeping their best players.

The chief hero for Spurs was Heung Min-Son, with his first two goals for Spurs - that put Manchester City in a hole where they needed three more goals to go through, that is assuming they had won 4-2. They did not, and Fernando Llorente took what was really a disastrous substitution from Spurs point of view, and a shot that came off his back side and here is the most controversial bit, his arm - that it is difficult to realize that Llorente was the reason Spurs midfield was overwhelmed in the second half (and that with all the mistakes and give away of the ball from full back Danny Rose) - and here VAR was instrumental. Video Assisted Refereeing was meant to rule out goals that should have not been allowed and in Spurs case, once Llorente's goals went to Video review, the expectation was that it would be ruled off by way of the hand, but the VAR officials deemed that it was not hand to ball, and the video was not "decisive".

Ultimately, for Tottenham fans, no matter what happens against Ajax Amsterdam in the Semi-Finals, today Spurs received not one but two get out of jail free cards. The second one was the most unexpected, other than the toe of the goal-scorer was in an offside position but without VAR it is a goal that would have been deemed to stand, especially because referee's are human. For all the cries and pangs of anger Manchester City fans will have for video assisted refereeing, if anything VAR did make the correct call that chalked off what looked like Manchester City's game winner. Ultimately Spurs were swamped by City and did deserve to lose because they had lost their shape and resilience in the second half. Yet here, City players are guilty of not being ruthless enough, which is what made them League Champions to begin with. It will hurt Manchester City fans that they lost to Liverpool in the Quarter-finals last year, but Liverpool were the better team. It will be extremely painful that the team that nearly got played off the park today is now heading to a Champions League semi-final. Yet City fans must realize that when they broke Manchester United hearts with two late goals to take their first League title was a moment of high drama that they can always treasure forever - but today just plain sucked for a City fan and it sent raptures of wild delight for even the most pessimistic Tottenham fan.

Yet be careful what one wishes for, because as great a feeling this is for Spurs fans, if they meet Liverpool in a final and Liverpool walk them off the park, it will feel like another unfilled mission. The reality is that any progress for Spurs now is simply a bonus they can enjoy. What Spurs can ill afford to do is is get side tracked by one day of euphoria, and derail the job they have left which is to finish in a Top 4 League position. If they do not win the Champions League and fail to stay in the Top 4, that will mean no Champions League football next year, and a billion dollar stadium loaded with debt, really, really needs Champions League football next year. As for today, what a legendary day and what a legendary match !

For a reality check, Spurs fans can still go back on their video's to re-live Ricky Villa and the 1981 FA Cup triumph :

Whose Got the Blues?

About the author

More articles by CityVP

The Brotherhood Moment

We Beat Arsenal

Cold Hard Reality

Comments