Harry Kane and Christian Eriksen helped Tottenham back from the brink to hold Juventus to a 2-2 in Turin, spoiling what had looked set to be a Gonzalo Higuain one-man show in the Champions League last 16, first leg on Tuesday.
Higuain had put Juventus two goals up within the first nine minutes at the Allianz Stadium.
The Argentine’s lightning strike after just 73 seconds was followed by a second from the spot to leave Mauricio Pochettino’s English side reeling.
But the 30-year-old missed two further chances to hammer home Juventus’s advantage in the first half, with striking the crossbar with a second penalty on the stroke of half-time.
Kane had pulled Tottenham back into the tie, beating veteran keeper Gianluigi Buffon on 35 minutes with Eriksen whipping in the second with a 70th-minute free-kick to leave it all to play for in London next month.
“The team showed real character to come here and challenge a team like Juventus,” said Pochettino who blamed the inexperience of his side for their sluggish start.
“I think we weren’t focused and it was difficult to manage the first seven minutes. I’m very happy that it’s still open and we’re going to play the second leg in London.”
Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri warned they would be ready to challenge again for a place in the quarter-finals after extending their unbeaten run at home in Champions League fixtures to 23 games.
“I don’t think there is any need to be depressed. If someone thought that Juventus could win 4-0 they were way off,” said Allegri.
“Tottenham had a great game and turned things around.
“After going 2-0 up we stopped playing, but part of that was also down to Tottenham’s performance. They are a very physical and technical team.”
Manchester City vs Basel Review
In the other game of the night, Ilkay Gundogan says there is still more to come from Manchester City after their “perfect” 4-0 rout of Basel left them on the verge of the Champions League quarter-finals.
The runaway Premier League leaders destroyed Basel’s morale with a three-goal burst after just 23 minutes of the first leg last-16 mismatch.
City’s first three goals came in a devastating nine-minute spell thanks to a header from Gundogan, a Bernardo Silva volley and a long-range Sergio Aguero strike.
It was Aguero’s 14th goal in 11 games in 2018.
Gundogan added a fourth after the break and was only denied a hat-trick by the dogged determination of Basel goalkeeper Tomas Vaclik.
The tie looks all but settled ahead of the return leg at the Etihad on March 7.
Gundogan says City can do better and he threw down the gauntlet to their Champions League rivals.
“The result was maybe perfect, but there are still plenty of things to improve,” said Gundogan
The 27-year-old German singled out City’s playmaker Kevin de Bruyne for his part in his opening goal.
“I had the opponent on my back so it was not really easy to head it, but the timing was perfect and the ball was perfect from Kevin,” said Gundogan.
Manchester City City starved Basel of the ball, enjoying 69-percent possession.
“To win 4-0 away in the last 16 is an amazing result, we are almost in the quarter-finals, but I am not saying we are already there, out of respect for Basel,” said Guardiola.
“We defended well and we were clinical – we had four chances and took them all.”
