Tottenham Hotspur lost 1-0 against Bayer Leverkusen in Champions League action yesterday.
Tottenham Hotspur boss Mauricio Pochettino has told the Hertfordshire Mercury that he took Mousa Dembele off against Bayer Leverkusen, as the midfielder asked to be removed from the play.
Dembele was selected to start for Spurs in the Champions League, but he was replaced by Vincent Janssen in the first-half of the contest.
And Pochettino has revealed that the change was made as a result of injury, rather than due to a need to switch tactics.
“He [Dembele] asked to come off. He twisted his ankle that was the problem, it wasn’t tactical,” the Argentine boss said.
Dembele’s injury means that he is now a doubt to face Arsenal in the North London derby at the weekend.
Dembele has struggled with injury throughout the season so far, and it will be a major blow for Spurs if the Belgian international is sidelined again.
Tottenham are already without key players such as Harry Kane and Toby Alderweireld, meaning the depth of quality in their squad is being tested.
After Dembele went off against Leverkusen last night, Spurs’ performance went from bad to worse, and the Lilywhites ended up slipping to a 1-0 defeat against the Bundesliga side.
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