Tottenham have it all to do as they look to progress through to the quarter-finals of the UEFA Europa League. Taking on AZ Alkmaar in the Netherlands last Thursday, Ange Postecoglou's side lost 1-0 courtesy of a freak Lucas Bergvall own goal.
Failing to lay a glove on their Dutch opponents across the 90 minutes, Spurs are thankfully not further behind going into the deciding leg at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium as their opponents wasted some excellent chances to add to the scoreline. Tottenham have already beaten AZ at home in the Europa League this season and they need to do the same again on Thursday night to progress to the last eight.
The winner of the tie between Tottenham and AZ will take on either Ajax or Eintracht Frankfurt in the quarter-finals. Eintracht are currently on track to prevail after clinching a 2-1 win in Amsterdam last week.
If Spurs are to advance to the next stage of the competition then they will have to do so without Rodrigo Bentancur. The midfielder picked up his third booking of the Europa League campaign last week and now he will serve a one-match ban as punishment.
Due to UEFA's rules for yellow cards, a couple of Tottenham players are still running the risk of suspension ahead of a possible quarter-final tie.
Article 63.02 of the UEFA Europa League regulations states: "From the first match in the league phase, players and team officials are suspended for the next competition match after three cautions, that did not result in a red card, as well as after any subsequent odd-numbered caution (fifth, seventh, ninth, etc.)."
Yellow cards are carried over from the league phase and are not wiped out until the conclusion of the quarter-final stage. Article 63.04 states: "Exceptionally, all yellow cards and pending yellow-card suspensions expire on completion of the play-offs. They are not carried forward to the league phase. In addition, all yellow cards expire on completion of the quarter-finals. They are not carried forward to the semi-finals."
Two Tottenham players will be walking the disciplinary tightrope on Thursday evening as they are currently one yellow card away from serving a one-match ban. Yves Bissouma and Bergvall are the two players in question after both picking up two bookings apiece since Tottenham started their Europa League journey back in September.
Dejan Kulusevski is also on two yellow cards but he is not expected to return from a foot injury until after this month's international break. However, the Swede will have to watch his step in the quarter-finals in early April should Spurs complete their comeback against AZ.
Radu Dragusin is another Spurs star on two yellow cards in Europe but he cannot obtain a one-match ban as he is out for the remainder of the season through injury and no longer in Spurs' European squad as a result.
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