Tottenham midfielder Xavi Simons has posted an image of his bruised foot after Tuesday evening’s Champions League triumph against Borussia Dortmund. The 22-year-old delivered an outstanding performance for Spurs at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, helping to relieve mounting pressure on manager Thomas Frank.
The Danish boss secured board support following Saturday’s 2-1 defeat to West Ham, despite the club languishing in 14th position in the Premier League. Cristian Romero broke the deadlock following an encouraging opening from Spurs, before Dominic Solanke found the net for the first time since recovering from injury.
Dortmund were forced to compete with ten players for most of the encounter after Daniel Svensson received his marching orders in the 24th minute. The win leaves Spurs in a great position to qualify for the knockout stages.
Simons, whose form has been inconsistent following his summer transfer from RB Leipzig, proved pivotal in securing the victory. The Dutch international operated in central attacking midfield and featured prominently in the majority of Spurs’ attacking moves.
“Xavi Simons has been absolutely terrific,” Ally McCoist remarked during TNT Sports’ broadcast of the match. “Sometimes you look at players and you can see they’re really enjoying themselves. That’s what’s happening with Simons.”
Despite delivering one of his finest displays in a Spurs shirt, numerous challenges left him grounded and, following the final whistle, Simons revealed the toll of those tackles. Sharing on Instagram, he wrote: “I failed more times than you tried,” accompanied by several photographs from the fixture,
One of the images showcased his left foot, which was heavily bruised. Despite this, the ex-PSG star appeared to be in minimal discomfort and played throughout the victorious match.
Post-match, Frank was quizzed about the attacking creativity displayed by Simons and his teammates. He responded: “I think they did very well,”.
He elaborated on their strategy, saying: “So we played that, how can you say? It was a little bit of a 3-4-3, both to match it up, but also to do it a little bit, taking care of it. And Djed, I think, did exceptionally well, especially first half.”
Frank praised individual performances, stating: “Xavi produced a lot of good moments and found good positions, and I think Wilson was electric at times. So I’m happy with that.”