Spurs

Last Friday marked 15 years since Tottenham Hotspur last won a major trophy. They may be regulars in the Champions League and play in arguably the world's ...

Redknapp’s team were thriving, and very much in the mix for a top-four finish and were huge favourites. The midfielder was sent off for a horrendous challenge on Brecht Dejaegere, and from there Spurs were never able to take control of the tie. that’s not a trophy, is it? The problem was they had also conceded three (all in the space of seven slapstick first-half minutes), and went on to ship a further two goals and were knocked out. And frustration clearly got the better of Alli again. Whatever happened in the league, their dynamic young team looked destined for a trophy-laden future. “But sometimes you need to make mistakes in order to learn from them. His priority was clearly qualifying for the big one again. In the days before VAR and goal-line technology, there were some things you just couldn’t legislate for. Domestic cups were clearly not his highest priority (he often referred to them as a “distraction” and once suggested winning them “only builds ego”) but this penalty shootout defeat, with Christian Eriksen and Lucas Moura missing from the spot, heaped on the pressure in his final weeks in the job. They were in a commanding position, with Juve needing two away goals without reply heading into the final 30 minutes of the tie, but didn’t have the nous to see the job through. Unlike his predecessor Pochettino, Jose Mourinho was determined to win domestic cups.