Tottenham Hotspur star Dejan Kulusevski has shared what Rodrigo Bentancur said to him right after Matty Cash’s tackle cut his return to the starting XI short yesterday.
Speaking to Football.London, Kulusevski claims Bentancur was furious after a late challenge led to the midfielder coming off with an ankle injury.
Spurs got off to a flyer yesterday as they opened the scoring inside 22 minutes through Giovani Lo Celso.
Ange Postecoglou’s men dominated the opening period but were made to pay for several missed chances as Pau Torres levelled things on the stroke of halftime.
Tottenham were also dealt a massive blow midway through the first half as Bentancur was forced off with an ankle injury.
The 26-year-old made his first start since returning from an ACL injury. But a poorly-timed tackle from Matty Cash spoiled his return.
The Spurs players were visibly furious with Cash as the ball was well out of his reach before we swiped at Bentancur’s ankle.
Now, Kulusevski has shared what the Spurs midfielder said about Cash’s tackle.
Kulusevski shares what Bentancur said after injury
Speaking to Football.London, Kulusevski admitted that Bentancur was furious after the challenge from Cash.
He said: “I have to see it again but Rodri was really angry and he said it could maybe be more than a yellow card. It’s just hard for Rodri.
“Unbelievable person, unbelievable player. Out for eight months and comes back after two games and gets injured again.
“Life is hard. He has to stay strong and he has a great family to support him and good teammates.
“Yeah it’s very hard because I love him as a guy. He’s the guy I want to go to war with and they take him out like that with a bad tackle. That’s life.”
Bentancur was a standout performer for the 30 minutes he was on the pitch yesterday.
Alan Smith lauded him as a ‘classy’ operator during the game and he looked back to his best after a long-awaited return from injury.
It would be a real shame to see Bentancur ruled out once again after he’s worked so hard to return to first-team action.
Spurs will face an anxious wait to learn the extent of the Uruguayan’s injury. But they will be boosted by the return of Yves Bissouma at Manchester City next Sunday.