Jose's five-point preview - RB Leipzig away

Jose Mourinho discusses the squad’s determination to beat RB Leipzig in the face of yet more injury problems in his latest five-point preview.

We visit the Bundesliga side in the second leg of our Champions League round of 16 tie on Tuesday night trailing 1-0 from the first match, with Steven Bergwijn the latest player to suffer an injury setback.

Here’s what Jose had to say...

1 – Half-way point in the tie

How did Jose assess the state of play as we prepare to meet RB Leipzig once more?

Jose: “Honestly, we think that we are going to win. We are very positive but if you ask me about player news, the news is not good. We lost Bergwijn, not just for this match, but you asked me about this match, so I can confirm that we’ve lost him. We are losing 1-0, that’s the reality of the fact. At Burnley we were losing 1-0 at half-time too, we played very well in the second half so hopefully we play very well in the second half of this game. We are ready to give everything, to go with everything, we have to take our risks and again, we are losing 1-0 but we believe that we can change the game.”

2 – Personality

What are the most important factors going to be if we’re to turn the tie around?

Jose: “It’s to have the personality to cope with the situation, like we had against Burnley at half-time. At half-time the situation was difficult but we managed to change, not completely the result, but to change the game. Again, we are losing 1-0, the most important thing is to have the personality, to have that belief. The belief, I am sure that we have and the personality, the players will have to show from the beginning. We have to score two goals to win, but at the same time we need also to defend well. These matches many times go until the last second and we must be ready for that. The bad news is that we’ve lost an important player but the good news is what I’ve felt from the players in the past two days, we are really focussed and I think the players are ready to follow me in this ambition. It’s an opportunity for some players to go over their limits, but to give everything for ourselves as professionals and for us as Tottenham with the feeling that we know our fans have too. So we go until our limits, one (more) player is missing, along with two, three, four, five, six potential starters in our team, but we go with everything we have and we go with a very strong mentality for the game.”

3 – Away record in Europe

It was pointed out to Jose that we’ve come through some very tough away games in Europe with the results we’ve needed over the last couple of seasons. Can those experiences help?

Jose: “The more experience you have, the better. You get into situations of déjà vu, situations that you had before. In my case it wouldn’t be the first time that I’ve changed a negative result from the first leg and I can give many examples of that to the players, so if we’re sharing between ourselves our own experiences, that is a positive for the spirit that we must have. Going into the extreme negative situation which is to concede a goal before we score, nothing will change – we still need to score two goals and it’s with that risk in mind that we are going to play. We are going to have a go.”

4 – Ryan Sessegnon

With attacker Bergwijn out and left-back Ben Davies also missing with a hamstring problem, Jose was asked in his press conference in Germany on Monday evening whether Ryan Sessegnon – himself just coming back from injury – could have a chance to feature at the RB Arena...

Jose: “It’s between Ryan or (Jan) Vertonghen to play left-back. Tanganga, in a match where we need the left-back to attack, I don’t think Japhet can do it as a left-back and Ryan can also give us options in attacking areas – he’s basically a winger – so yes, we need everybody and especially without Steven, who had a very good adaptation and was performing very, very well for us, I think it’s time for Ryan to get his opportunity to play.”

5 – Form

Again speaking in his press conference, Jose spoke about how he has full belief in our ability to win this tie...

Jose: “The momentum is negative in this moment in terms of results. We lost and we drew two of the last two matches and even one of the draws ended in a defeat on penalties so the momentum is not the best. I just feel that the boys deserve something special. The group is very good – the boys, they give everything. Again, I think, in a very honest way, if we look at our games against Norwich, against Wolves, against Burnley, we fought really, really hard against all the circumstances and the boys deserve all this kind of happiness that victory in a knockout Champions League match can give, but sometimes in football you don’t get what you deserve. As a defeat at home, we got the best defeat – 1-0 is the best defeat. Of course, it’s better than losing 2-1 or losing 3-2 or losing 4-0, so it’s not an awful defeat, it’s a defeat that leaves the door open. Of course, I would prefer to be in (RB Leipzig’s) position, of course I would, but I believe that they feel the pressure. They are winning, they are winning at home and we are going to have a go. We have nothing to lose.”