{"id":397082,"date":"2026-01-29T15:34:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-29T15:34:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/397082\/"},"modified":"2026-01-29T15:34:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T15:34:09","slug":"three-things-we-learned-from-tottenham-win-as-next-step-beckons-for-star-man-xavi-simons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/397082\/","title":{"rendered":"Three things we learned from Tottenham win as next step beckons for star man Xavi Simons"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Tottenham<\/p>\n

Second-half goals from Randal Kolo Muani and Dominic Solanke ensured a dominant opening half did not go to waste and ensured Spurs avoided an energy-sapping two-legged play-off to try to qualify for the round of 16.<\/p>\n

It was another win on the continent on which Thomas Frank can hang his hat, as Spurs secured a hugely impressive fourth-placed finish in the League Phase.<\/p>\n

Here are three things Sam Tabuteau learned from Spurs\u2019 dominant victory…<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Star: Xavi Simons<\/p>\n

AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Simons comes alive in Champions League<\/p>\n

When Xavi Simons<\/a> is in the mood, he completely transforms this Tottenham team.<\/p>\n

A player of his quality, with time and space between the lines, is a joy to behold, and he made the Deutsche Bank Park his playground tonight.<\/p>\n

A dazzling performance almost had the perfect start when Simons arrived late to convert a loose ball inside two minutes.<\/p>\n

The referee cut the Dutchman\u2019s celebrations short, but it did not deter the diminutive midfielder, who stitched play together delightfully as Spurs carved out chance after chance in the first half.<\/p>\n

A lovely deft link up with Wilson Odobert deserved better, as the French winger\u2019s low effort pinged agonisingly back off the inside of the post, and Simons himself went close as he intercepted play before poking his shot right at Kaua Santos in the Frankfurt net.<\/p>\n

Simons comes alive in the Champions League, relishing the space he is afforded in possession. It was his inswinging cross that allowed Romero to head the ball back across goal for Kolo Muani\u2019s opener.<\/p>\n

Converting that into more consistent performances in the Premier League is the next step for the 22-year-old, but there can be no doubt about the quality he can offer Spurs in the half spaces.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Light work: Tottenham brushed Frankfurt aside<\/p>\n

PA Wire via DPA<\/p>\n

Spurs sail straight into knockout stage<\/p>\n

Spurs came, they saw, and they conquered as they made light work of Frankfurt to secure their place in the knockout stage of the Champions League.<\/p>\n

Spurs had put their destiny in their own hands after a comfortable 2-0 win over 10-man Borussia Dortmund last week, but knew they still needed a victory to ensure they did not have to rely on results around them.<\/p>\n

It was ultimately a routine win for Spurs, but only because Frank\u2019s men made it so with a performance that was thoroughly deserving of three points.<\/p>\n

The Champions League has offered a reprieve for Spurs this season, and they looked in no real danger of letting the game get away from them.<\/p>\n

After a dominant but wasteful first half, Frankfurt fired a warning sign right before half-time as Hugo Larsson\u2019s shot grazed the crossbar.<\/p>\n

Spurs, though, reacted with a vengeance after the break as Kolo Muani netted two minutes after half-time to give the visitors a deserved lead.<\/p>\n

From that point on, Spurs remained in control, stifling Frankfurt, before Solanke pounced on Dahoud\u2019s misplaced header to double the north London club\u2019s lead.<\/p>\n

Frank needs to ensure another morale-boosting victory in Europe does not go to waste.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

On target: Randal Kolo Muani<\/p>\n

Getty Images<\/p>\n

Kolo Muani takes his chance amid transfer talk<\/p>\n

Randal Kolo Muani has seen his future cast into doubt this week, with rumours suggesting that he could return to Juventus, having fallen out of favour under Frank.<\/p>\n

With the Dane already stretched for options, and Dominic Solanke in need of a rest as he gets himself back to full fitness, Kolo Muani was given a rare opportunity up front.<\/p>\n

The Frenchman has been dissatisfied with the minutes he has had in his favoured position this season, but took his opportunity at the Deutsche Bank and was mobbed by his team-mates after opening the scoring.<\/p>\n

Inside two minutes, Kolo Muani thought he had set up Xavi Simons for a priceless early lead, only to see the referee judge that there had been a foul in the build up.<\/p>\n

With that moment, though, Kolo Muani showed his intent as he drove at Frankfurt\u2019s backline, and he remained lively throughout the first half as Spurs dominated but failed to find the breakthrough.<\/p>\n

Selfless in and out of possession, Kolo Muani pressed well and linked play as Spurs fashioned a number of promising chances early on.<\/p>\n

His goal was not a thing of beauty by any stretch, but his anticipation, to be in the right place to turn home Romero\u2019s header back across goal, spoke to his performance.<\/p>\n

Kolo Muani, who joined up late with the rest of the squad after a tyre on his car exploded on his way to the airport yesterday afternoon, will hope this can be a platform for a sustained run in the side.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Second-half goals from Randal Kolo Muani and Dominic Solanke ensured a dominant opening half did not go to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":397083,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[59,101,56,54,55,3919],"class_list":{"0":"post-397082","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-gb","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom","13":"tag-xavi-simons"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397082","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=397082"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397082\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/397083"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=397082"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=397082"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=397082"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}