Ange Postecoglou plays down James Maddison injury fears as Tottenham go through
By George Sessions, PA, Frankfurt
Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou provided a positive update on James Maddison after his key contribution helped the club claim a Europa League semi-final berth.
Maddison won Spurs’ 38th-minute penalty after he flicked on Cristian Romero’s long pass and got wiped out by Eintracht Frankfurt goalkeeper Kaua Santos.
It allowed Dominic Solanke the chance to score from 12 yards and he duly did to earn Tottenham a 1-0 victory in Germany, which sent them through 2-1 on aggregate to only their second semi-final in a European competition in the last 40 years.
Even though Maddison was forced off before half-time due to a severe blow to his head, he was able to lead the full-time celebrations and may even be in contention for Monday’s visit of Nottingham Forest in the Premier League.
“He is fine,” Postecoglou revealed when asked for an update on Spurs vice-captain Maddison.
“Unbelievable courage in that moment to put his body on the line knowing full well that he was going to get a pretty severe knock and I was surprised it wasn’t a red card.
“Super courageous from him. He is sore but I’m sure that has all been numbed knowing that he has helped us progress to the semi.”
It's Bodø/Glimt in the semi-finals 👊 pic.twitter.com/YjO7ZuwUGF
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) April 17, 2025
Frankfurt had only lost three times all season at Deutsche Bank Park, but Tottenham produced the fourth with a textbook away display as key senior players Guglielmo Vicario, Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven and Solanke delivered strong displays.
Postecoglou was without the quartet for a large chunk of a dreadful winter period, which resulted in Spurs’ slide down the Premier League table, but the 59-year-old expressed his delight at being able to work with a virtually fully-fit squad as they target the club’s first trophy in 17 years.
He added: “In such a big game, they delivered a performance and it means we’re through to a semi-final. I think over the two legs we deserved to go through. It could have been all over in the first leg but we earned the right to be in the semi.
“From our perspective we’ve had a difficult season and I think there’s some reasoning behind that.
“At times we’ve been missing Vicario, Romero, Van de Ven, (Rodrigo) Bentancur, Solanke, all of them we’ve been missing at different times this year.
“We’ve got the whole group. It’s not just them, it’s the whole group together. We know that we can be a team that’s pretty compelling against anybody. We’re in the final four now so we’ve given ourselves a chance.”
Spurs will need to check on captain Son Heung-min for the clash with Forest after he missed the trip to Frankfurt with a foot injury.
