James Maddison names Tottenham star who was "absolutely fantastic" against AZ Alkmaar and two who were "solid"

Tottenham Hotspur are just four games away from a European final after they beat AZ Alkmaar 3-2 on aggregate in Europa League the round of 16. Spurs lost the first leg 1-0 in the Netherlands last week but turned that deficit around with a 3-1 win in North London.

They will face Bundesliga side Eintracht Frankfurt in the quarter-finals, after the German club beat Ajax 6-2 on aggregate in their last 16 clash. The quarter final games will be played on April 10 and April 17.

Spurs last reached a European final when they faced Liverpool in the Champions League final in 2019 in Madrid. With Tottenham sitting in the bottom half of the Premier League table, winning the Europa League remains their best chance of securing more European football next season.

Maddison hails “fantastic” Odobert

Wilson Odobert scored a goal in each half for Spurs as Ange Postecoglou’s side advanced. He opened the scoring to put Spurs level in the tie and then scored the final goal to put Tottenham 3-2 up.

Midfielder James Maddison had temporarily put the hosts ahead in the tie with a second Spurs goal on the night but Peer Koopmeiners made it 2-2 on aggregate as he punished some careless Spurs play in front of their own goal.

With Odobert scoring twice, he was on the end of some high praise from Maddison after the game. The former Leicester City man said: "Wilson Odobert will grab the headlines tonight and rightly so, two goals and he was a threat, and I thought he was absolutely fantastic. I'm going to go give him a big pat on the back."

Maddison on “solid” defensive pair

Spurs’ poor run of form earlier in the season came amid a host of injury problems for Postecoglou. However, Tottenham have got several players back in recent weeks as Maddison hailed a solid performance from key defenders Micky Van de Ven and Cristian Romero.

He said: "The next stage is what we set out to do at the start of the two legs. There was a lot of talk after last week's performance, we were honest with ourselves it wasn't good enough.

"I know what we're capable of here and we got the job done. We haven't achieved anything yet, we're in the quarter-final and we kick on and we look forward to it.

"Over the last few months when we've spoken about injuries and missing key players, then tonight, we're stood in the tunnel and you look at the team and it's a group of men. When you have the spine of players who are experienced and have played at this level for a long time it makes a difference. Micky [Van de Ven] and Cuti [Romero], solid at the back and it was a solid performance and we're deservedly through.”

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