Jose Mourinho: Tottenham Hotspur Are 'A Gun Without Bullets' After Leipzig Loss

Tottenham Hotspur manager Jose Mourinho said his team are lacking firepower after the 1-0 loss to RB Leipzig in the Champions League on Wednesday, lamenting the lack of attacking threat after injuries to Harry Kane and Heung-Min Son. 

The tactician said this season has been an unlucky one, and that he can't ask more of his players. In an interview with B/R Football, he also said his opponents play in an easier league, allowing them to rotate the side and rest their stars:

"The reality is we don't have a striker. It's simple as that.

"I can not ask more from my players. They did amazing since I arrived to be in this position.

"But the situation is very difficult. We are like a gun without bullets, so it's very difficult.

"The problem is that for the next three weeks we have a lot of matches to play, and we have exactly the same players. So the problem is not just to play with these players, it's that we are going to play with these players completely tired.

"I look at them, of course, their league is much easier than ours. But on top of that they have a huge squad. They can rotate players, they can play with different players. Have players fresh for matches. We are not in this situation."

Timo Werner scored the only goal of the match from the penalty spot. It was a night of firsts for the Bundesliga side:

Both teams came into the match with major question marks. For Spurs, the problems came in attack, where ace striker Kane and versatile forward Son were both sidelined. Mourinho opted for the duo of Dele Alli and Lucas Moura in attack, but neither made a huge impact, and the former was taken off after 64 minutes.

Leipzig had issues at centre-back, where star man Dayot Upamecano was suspended. Ibrahima Konate and Willi Orban were injured, giving manager Julian Nagelsmann plenty of selection headaches. He included 19-year-old loanee Ethan Ampadu in his back line, despite the lack of match rhythm for the Welshman.

Cesc Fabregas was glad to see the Chelsea youngster get some playing time:

Both teams have key domestic outings before they face each other again in the second leg on March 10. Spurs' next match will be against Chelsea, who sit just one point ahead of them in the Premier League. The Blues are fourth but winless in their last four outings in the competition, while Tottenham have won three in a row.

Leipzig are second in the Bundesliga, one point behind Bayern Munich, but they have just one win in their last four outings in the competition. They will face European hopefuls Schalke and Bayer Leverkusen in back-to-back matches.

While Wednesday's contest didn't go as planned and Spurs find themselves in a bad spot, with the away-goal rule handing Leipzig a major advantage, Tottenham blogger Chris Miller believes Mourinho shouldn't be criticised too harshly:

Despite the injury setbacks, Wednesday's loss was the team's first in their last eight matches across all competitions.