Once again, there were no miracles for a Tottenham Hotspur side mired in a prolonged slump as they suffered a narrow defeat in the first leg of the UEFA Europa League Round of 16 against AZ Alkmaar.

For the Spurs, much like Manchester United, this tournament represents their final chance to salvage the season and earn a spot in next year’s UEFA Champions League. However, they faced daunting opposition in AZ Alkmaar, a team that had gone 12 home matches without defeat in the UEFA Europa League—and that streak continued.

The game’s decisive moment arrived in the 18th minute. A corner kick from the hosts ricocheted off Lucas Bergvall, resulting in an own goal that gave AZ Alkmaar a 1–0 lead they never relinquished. Tottenham Hotspur struggled to generate any real attacking threat and lacked the cutting edge needed to avoid defeat.

With the 1–0 victory secured, AZ Alkmaar will now travel to London for next week’s return match. Interestingly, during the main stage of the UEFA Europa League, Tottenham Hotspur once defeated AZ Alkmaar by the same scoreline at home—a result they will be desperate to repeat if they hope to keep their European dream alive.

2024-25, Europa League

AZ Alkmaar - Tottenham 1:0 (1:0)
Goals: Bergvall, 18 (own goal) (1:0)

AZ Alkmaar: Owusu-Oduro; Goes; Penetra; Maikuma; Wolfe; Koopmeiners P.; Clasie; Buurmeester (Sadiq I., 81); Lahdo (Kasius, 9; Smit Kees, 66); Parrott (van Duijn, 81); Poku E. (Belic Kr., 81)
Bench: Verhulst; Zoet; Martins Indi; Dekker M.; Daal; de Wit M.
Yellow Cards: Koopmeiners P. 65; Poku E. 68; van Duijn 90

Tottenham: Vicario G.; Udogie (Porro, 72); Spence D.; Danso; Gray; Bergvall; Johnson B-n; Bentancur; Maddison (Sarr P., 72); Son Heungmin (Solanke, 72; Scarlett, 90); Tel M. (Odobert, 46)
Bench: Austin; Whiteman; Romero C.; van de Ven; Bissouma; Moore
Yellow Cards: Bentancur 62