It’s really hard: Jose Mourinho after RB Leipzig knocked Spurs out of Champions League

Tottenham Hotspur's Portuguese head coach Jose Mourinho walks with Tottenham Hotspur's Brazilian midfielder Lucas Moura after the UEFA Champions League football match between RB Leipzig and Tottenham Hotspur, in Leipzig, eastern Germany on March 10, 2020. (Photo by John MACDOUGALL / AFP)


RB Leipzig on Wednesday thrashed Tottenham 3-0 at Red Bull Arena to knock the Spurs out of the ongoing Champions League. The result saw Leipzig end advance to the quarterfinals with a 4-0 aggregate win over the last time runners-up.

“It’s really hard,” said Mourinho after the match as quoted by club’s official website.

Marcel Sabitzer broke the deadlock only in the 10th minute and before Spurs could bounce back, the Austrian netted another in the 21st minute. In the waning moments of the game, Emil Forsberg scored the hosts’ third goal.

“They were very intense, they were very physical, the rhythm of their game was very strong. We had an opportunity to score, I thought it was going to be an own goal – I saw the ball inside, we had that chance – then they go there, they score and after that it was really hard,” said the Portuguese.

The last seven days have been tough for Mourinho’s men as they suffered exit in the fifth round of FA Cup at the hands of Norwich City after losing out on penalties at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Wednesday night which is followed by their Champions League ouster.

“The message is that this is what we have, these are the players that we have,” said Mourinho.

“I think this is an incredibly unlucky season for the Club. Just look to the Leipzig match – before the first leg, we lost Sonny at Villa, before this match, two days before, we lost Bergwijn for the second leg. We don’t speak about Sissoko or Davies or Kane. But we are always positive, we are always ready to fight, we are always ready to believe. If you saw my press conference (on Monday) I was really positive, I was really trying to be positive for the boys – that’s the way we have to keep going until the end.”