Tottenham vs Gent: Five things we learned as Mauricio Pochettino picks a strong team but Spurs crash out

Ten-man Spurs were dumped out of the Europa League by Gent after a 2-2 draw at Wembley.

The result sent the Premier League side crashing out following their 1-0 defeat in Belgium last week.

Christian Eriksen opened the scoring early on before Harry Kane headed into his own net and Dele Alli was show and a straight red card in an eventful first half.

Victor Wanyama gave Spurs hope of a comeback with a fine strike on the hour mark, but Jeremy Perbet's 82nd minute effort effectively ended the contest as Tottenham pushed for what would have been a crucial third goal.

Here are five things we learned from Wembley:

Pochettino does not deserve to be blamed for this result

In the past two campaigns Spurs have crashed out of this tournament playing weakened teams. Last year Kyle Walker, Danny Rose and Harry Kane all failed to appear in a 5-1 aggregate loss to Dortmund, while the season before Fiorentina made light work of Tottenham’s reserves — particularly a creaking defence which included both Fazio and Vlad Chiricheș.

Pochettino learnt from those mistakes and upheld his end of the bargain on Thursday evening by fielding a full-strength starting eleven against Gent. It was not his fault that those players so woefully failed to deliver and the Argentinian should bear no responsibility for this humiliating result. His senior players let him down.

Dele Alli has some growing up to do

Dele Alli is a wonderfully gifted player with the world at his feet. But his first-half challenge on Brecht Dejaegere was utterly indefensible. High, late and malicious, it was a potential leg-breaker and could have ended the Belgian’s career. It was that bad.

For all his talent, there has long been a feeling at the club that the hot-headed Alli possesses a temper that could one day get the better of him. And so it proved. The youngster now needs to show that he can learn from his mistake and control his temper from here on in, avoiding any future Gory Gory Nights.

Where does Vincent Janssen go from here?

The forward has had a miserable time at White Hart Lane since signing from AZ for the best part of £20m. He was left out of the match day squad as Spurs beat Fulham 3-0 last week and was ignored again today.

Spurs were constantly chasing this tie and were in constant need of a goal and yet Pochettino turned first to Heung-min Son, and then Harry Winks, before throwing on Janssen in the 89th minute. And even then, he was only brought on to spare an increasingly emotional Eric Dier from getting himself sent off. Where does Janssen go from here? His short Spurs career has been a disaster and it looks unlikely he will ever be given a chance to turn things around.

Spurs must shake off their Wembley hoodoo

Tottenham appeared overawed playing at Wembley during the Champions League group-stage, struggling with the larger pitch and looking anything but the home team. They made a better start against Gent tonight, but again looked unsettled and faded in the second-half, their ten men struggling to maintain Pochettino's notoriously high press.

Spurs fans will be especially concerned with their Wembley form considering they could be playing in an FA Cup semi-final here very soon. Not to mention that all of their home fixtures will be played at the ground next season, as White Hart Lane is pulled down ahead of the construction of the club's new stadium. They need a big result here as soon as possible. The hoodoo has to end now.

The Europa League deserves more respect

English clubs — and English supporters — so often talk about the Europa League with a sense of entitlement, as if every English club involved could win the competition if only they decided they wanted to. Well Tottenham Hotspur wanted to.

But they were outclassed and out-fought by a very impressive Gent side, who got to this stage of the competition the hard way: by emerging through the bruising group stages, topping their group ahead of Athletic Bilbao. English clubs need to shake the assumption that this competition is beneath them.