Harry Kane and Christian Eriksen pulled Tottenham back from the brink to hold Juventus 2-2 in Turin, spoiling what had looked set to be a Gonzalo Higuain one-man show in the Champions League last 16, first leg here on Tuesday.
Higuain had put Juventus — losing finalists twice in the past three seasons — two goals up within the first nine minutes at the Allianz Stadium.
The Argentine’s lightning strike after just 73 seconds was followed by a second from the spot to leave Mauricio Pochettino’s side reeling.
Costly misses
But the 30-year-old missed two further chances to hammer home Juventus’s advantage in the first half, including striking the crossbar with a second penalty on the stroke of half-time.
Kane had pulled Tottenham back into the tie, beating veteran keeper Gianluigi Buffon on 35 minutes with Eriksen whipping in the second with a 70th-minute free-kick to leave it all to play for in London next month.
“The team showed real character to come here and challenge a team like Juventus,” said Pochettino, who blamed the inexperience of his side for their sluggish start.
“I think we weren’t focused and it was difficult to manage the first seven minutes. I’m very happy that it’s still open and we’re going to play the second leg in London.”
Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri warned they would be ready to challenge again for a place in the quarterfinals after extending their unbeaten run at home in Champions League fixtures to 23 games.
“I don’t think there is any need to be depressed. If someone thought that Juventus could win 4-0 they were way off,” said Allegri.
“Tottenham had a great game and turned things around.
“After going 2-0 up we stopped playing, but part of that was also down to Tottenham’s performance. They are a very physical and technical team.”
Quickfire goals
Meanwhile at Basel, Manchester City effectively killed off its Champions League tie against FC Basel after 23 minutes on Tuesday, flattening the Swiss champion with three quickfire goals on its way to a 4-0 away win.
Ilkay Gundogan, Bernardo Silva and Sergio Aguero scored within nine minutes of each other in the last 16 first-leg tie to almost certainly extend Basel’s wait for a first quarterfinal appearance in the competition.
Gundogan curled in the fourth from the edge of the area in the 53rd minute.
The results (Round of 16, first-leg):At Basel: Basel 0 lost to Manchester City 4 (Gundogan 14, 53, Bernardo Silva 18, Aguero 23).
At Turin: Juventus 2 (Higuain 2, 9) drew with Tottenham 2 (Kane 35, Eriksen 72) .
