Juventus celebrate as Tottenham fall short again

Tottenham 1 Juventus 2 (Juventus win 4-3 on aggregate)

Football can be a cruel game and Tottenham are turning into a club who suffer more than most.

Having fought back in the first leg to cancel out an early two-goal deficit, Spurs hosted Juventus at Wembley in the Champions League last-16 second leg in the driving seat. For nearly an hour they kept their eyes on the road, taking the lead through Son Heung-min’s first-half strike and somehow escaping with what was a clear Juventus penalty.

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But then, midway through the second period, Tottenham lost concentration. It was only for two and a half minutes, but in that time Juventus scored twice, first through Gonzalo Higuain and then with Paulo Dybala’s clever run and shot.

It was 150 seconds of sloppiness that cost Spurs a place in the quarter-finals of the Champions League, despite having dominated the match.

Even late on, the home side were besieging the Juventus goal, with a header by Harry Kane on 90 minutes hitting the post and bouncing along the line before being hoofed clear by an Italian defender.

When the final whistle sounded moments later, Tottenham looked stunned, absorbing the shock of their first defeat in 18 matches.

Once again they failed when it mattered, a worrying habit in the last decade that explains why they haven’t won a trophy since the League Cup in 2008.

And Giorgio Chiellini was in no mood to let Spurs forget it. Outstanding at the heart of the Juventus defence, the veteran said afterwards that he knew they would win because Tottenham “always miss something at the end”. He added: “It’s the history of Tottenham… [they] have fantastic players and are an amazing side - but they concede many chances every game.”

In recent seasons, Tottenham have pointed to the youth and inexperience of their squad as a reason for their failure to close out games, but yesterday’s starting side boasted experienced internationals including Kane, Hugo Lloris, Christian Eriksen and Jan Vertonghen.

Their mental frailty needs addressing, but in the immediate aftermath of the defeat, manager Mauricio Pochettino didn’t appear ready to grasp the situation. “We are very disappointed, but it is part of growing,” he said. “It was tough but very positive for the future. You need this type of game and experience to build you as a player to compete at this level.”

Many believe Spurs have been saying that for too long.