Lucas Bergvall’s own goal meant Spurs head into the second leg in north London behind but they were fortunate it wasn’t more after an insipid display

AZ Alkmaar beat Tottenham Hotspur in the first leg of the UEFA Europa League Round of 16.

Sitting a lowly 13th in the Premier League standings, Tottenham's only realistic avenue for European soccer next season is winning the Europa League. Ange Postecoglou famously said he always wins trophies in his second season in charge, and the second tier European competition is the only path towards making that statement true.

The likes of Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven and Dominic Solanke have now returned to training while James Maddison, Wilson Odobert, Destiny Udogie and Brennan Johnson are also back in action, leaving their boss confident of success against an AZ side lying sixth in the Eredivisie.

Postecoglou believes there is still "an opportunity" to salvage Tottenham's season both in the Premier League and Europa League. The Lilywhites ended the League Phase with back-to-back wins over Hoffenheim (3-2) and Elfsborg (3-0) and they have already beaten Thursday's opponents AZ this season, winning 1-0 at home on matchday three.

The AZ Alkmaar vs Tottenham Hotspur F.C. live stream is on TNT Sports 3 in the UK. TNT Sports will broadcast more than 185 matches over the course of the season, while also having exclusive rights for every fixture in the Europa League and Conference League.

It's a big game for Tottenham on Thursday as the English Premier League club look to keep their last remaining chance of silverware alive, as they take on Dutch team AZ Alkmaar in the first leg of this UEFA Europa League last-16 matchup.

Tottenham Hotspur are out in the Netherlands for their match against AZ Alkmaar at the AFAS Stadium in the first leg of the Europa League round of 16 tonight.The two sides have met just once before