Five things we learned from Manchester City 4-3 Tottenham

Manchester City and Tottenham played what will likely be considered a Champions League classic on Wednesday night. While City won the match 4-3, the three goals of the Spurs, combined with their 1-0 win at Tottenham Hotspur last week, were barely enough to see them attend the first semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League. their story. They will face Ajax, who sent Juventus on Tuesday.

I have been a fan of Tottenham Hotspur since 2007 and I do not think I have ever felt the overwhelming mixture of terror and absolute jubilation that I have felt watching this game – maybe not since the Spurs beat City in 2010. Wins its first ever top-four finish and qualifies for the Champions League. Wednesday's match was foolish, undoubtedly the best match of the Champions League so far, and the Spurs managed to not get caught at the unstacker.

We could talk about many points of discussion of this game. Here are five things we learned from this wild outcome at Etihad Stadium.

IT WAS ABSOLUTELY BONKERS!

In 2014, Jon Bois, of SB Nation, released what is probably my favorite tweet. At the time, I found this very funny and I have referred to it several times over the years, but I'm not sure I understand it well before Wednesday's match.

Four goals in 11 minutes? A doubling of Son Heung-Min in two minutes? A goal from Fernando Llorente who escaped his hip and most likely his arm? A goal from the city two minutes from time that would have sent them who was then recalled (correctly) by VAR for offside? A 4-3 defeat that remains, improbably, a victory for the Spurs?

Madness.

After the first half, I tried my own tweet Boisian to try to explain how this game was absolutely crazy. I'm not sure I've captured it entirely.

There are no words in English to describe what I'm feeling right now. "Happy" does not even begin to describe it.

The Spurs are short of players.

When Moussa Sissoko had a groin injury late in the first half, the Spurs were very scared. Oliver Skipp, 18, was the only senior midfielder on the bench. Eric Dier and Harry Winks are both injured and have not made the trip. The central midfielder has been a problem for most of the season.

In a surprising move, Mauricio Pochettino replaced Sissoko with Fernando Llorente, letting Dele Alli squeeze deeper into the central midfield. It did not really work, with City dominating the start of the second half, although Llorente more than rewarded Poch's confidence in him by scoring a winning goal late in the second half.

However, it is undeniable that the Spurs are seriously affected and at what could be the worst possible time. With Erik Lamela wounded again during pre-game warm-ups, the Spurs now have no more than six players on the first team: Harry Kane, Eric Dier, Harry Winks, Serge Aurier , and now Lamela and Sissoko. The Spurs must still score 9 points in their last five league games, as well as a Champions League semi-final against Ajax. It's a team held with string at the moment; they will need players to get back to health quickly or to dig deep for important upcoming matches.

Hugo Lloris was huge.

It may seem odd to say that about a goalkeeper who scored four goals in a defeat in the Champions League, but Hugo Lloris made decisive saves in that game. Yes, there have been some scary moments – the rescue he's done, that Danny Rose has specifically ensured – and he might have done better on Aguero's goal at the far post, but he had several fantastic dive stops and parades that prevented Spurs from blowing himself up.

City is an absolutely incredible offensive team. Raheem Sterling scored two fantastic goals. Bernardo Silva's strike deviated from Dany Rose and Hugo. But if it were not the end of Hugo's heroic heroes, the Spurs might have been ejected from Etihad. It was a classic and the captain of the Spurs club was the main reason.

VAR is good again.

There is no doubt that VAR has its share of detractors, but everything was successful Wednesday night. First, he (correctly) left behind Fernando Llorente's last goal that allowed the Spurs to back off again – the current retransmission of the retransmission, which is what the official used to re-read, seemed to indicate that the ball had not touched Llorente's arm the resumption of the game. Another recovery after the match showed that he had touched Llorente's forearm well before leaving the hip and the opposing goalkeeper, but if the official of the match had access to this angle, it is unlikely that it would have been considered "intentional enough" to reverse the call.

Then, Sterling's third goal was rightly recalled after Sergio Aguero was offside in the initial move. The call was tight … but also the good one, and it was enough to send the Spurs. Fans of the city may feel wronged, but if it's the goal of the VAR, it's used correctly.

The road does not get easier.

The next Spurs match will be this Saturday against Manchester City in Etihad, but this time in the Premier League. The dynamics of this match will be fascinating – the Spurs are extremely injured and City will try to prove something, although it is also argued that this could be the kind of defeat that could derail their campaign.

And matches follow each other after that, including a two-game series against "the team of fate", Ajax, for the right to travel to Wanda for the final of the Champions League. It's a team from Ajax that has eliminated Real Madrid and Juventus from the competition. They are really good and the Spurs will have to play the first leg without his Heung-Min, who took the third yellow against City and will miss the match because of the accumulation of yellow cards.

But at this point, even if the Spurs are eliminated by City on Saturday, can we doubt that this team can be ranked among the top four and even win the Champions League? FiveThirtyEight has the Spurs with a unique chance to qualify for the Champions League final and a 15% chance of winning the match. Considering the beginning of their campaign in the group stage, it's amazing. They have been successful so far with serious problems midfield and a team reduced in speed. There is no reason to think that they can not continue to defy expectations.