Mikel Arteta has rubbed salt into Tottenham’s wound by admitting that he is not surprised that Dinamo Zagreb managed to turn around the tie against the Lilywhites and progress to the next round last night.
Almost no one would have given Zagreb a chance of progressing to the final eight after they fell to a 2-0 defeat to Jose Mourinho’s side in the first leg.
Additionally, the Croatian club received another blow just days before the second leg as their head coach Zoran Mamic quit his job after receiving a four-year jail sentence.
However, the Zagreb players put in a spirited display and grew in confidence as the game wore on before completing a historic turnaround.
Mourinho praised the attitude and the desire that the Croatian outfit showed while admitting that his own players lacked the required professionalism.
Arsenal too lost the second leg of their round of 16 tie against Olympiacos, with the Greek side winning 1-0 at the Emirates.
However, the Gunners went through the quarter-finals on aggregate on the back of their 3-1 win in the first leg.
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When asked about Tottenham’s elimination by Zagreb, Arteta told The Daily Mirror: “It shows as well the level of opposition, that people take for granted that you play against an opponent and you will go through, because the name of the club that they represent.
“It is not like that, every team in Europe is difficult to beat.”
Spurs Web Opinion
It seemed from the Tottenham players’ body language yesterday as if they thought all they needed to do was to turn up. We will always get turned over if the players showed the attitude they did yesterday, irrespective of the quality of the opposition.
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