Football
Dan Kilpatrick, Tottenham Correspondent 7y

Tottenham's Kevin Wimmer: Second Monaco goal was 'very disappointing'

MONACO -- Tottenham Hotspur defender Kevin Wimmer admits that conceding 39 seconds after equalising in Tuesday's Champions League defeat to Monaco was unacceptable.

Wimmer was a surprise pick at centre-back as goals from Djibril Sidibie and Thomas Lemar secured Monaco's progression to the round of 16 with a 2-1 win, while Spurs, who equalised through Harry Kane's penalty, are battling with next month's opponents CSKA Moscow for a spot in the Europa League.

It took Monaco four passes and six touches to regain the lead through Lemar after Kane's goal and Wimmer, making his fourth start of the season, said: "It cannot happen that we score the equaliser and concede the second goal straight away -- it's very disappointing. We were expecting more but we know it's the Champions League, it's very difficult."

It was Spurs' third loss in five Champions League group games this season, but their first away from their temporary European home, Wembley, where they began their campaign with another 2-1 defeat to Monaco.

Wimmer was at a loss to explain why Tottenham have been so poor in the competition but he refused to blame Wembley, where the club could face sparse crowds if they drop into the Europa League.

"It's a big honour to play at Wembley as the atmosphere is so amazing," he said. "White Hart Lane is our home ground, everyone is comfortable there, but if we play in the Europa League it doesn't matter where we play as we want to show we can play in every stadium. It's always nice to play in Wembley.

"It's difficult to say, but we can't blame Wembley for results. The atmosphere is incredible in Wembley, and we felt so good to play in front of 90,000 fans -- it wouldn't be right if we say [we lost] just because we play at Wembley. We like to play at White Hart Lane but also Wembley is very good for us."

Tottenham captain Hugo Lloris, who reached the semifinals of the Champions League with former club Lyon, questioned whether his current teammates are good enough for the competition.

"We will talk between ourselves and try to find a solution," Lloris said. "Maybe we are not ready to manage Premier League and Champions League campaigns at the same time, but we need to question ourselves about that.

"Everyone at the club was excited to play in this competition, and all the players too, but we failed all together. We had bigger expectations in this group stage. We will not go through, we are still fighting for the Europa League but it's not enough for a club like Spurs. It's a big disappointment.

"It makes for a lot of frustration, I can't hide that. We need to digest this and look forward to the game at Chelsea on Saturday."

Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino sprung a surprise by leaving Jan Vertonghen on the bench against Monaco, even though the defender confirmed afterwards that he was fit.

"It is a question for the manager," Lloris said. "We know we have a good squad and sometimes it can happen that the manager rotates, but that kind of thing shouldn't affect the team because we have enough quality in the squad."

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