Leeds United head coach Jesse Marsch said he felt "like someone has ripped my heart out" after watching his side implode in Saturday's 4-3 loss at Tottenham.
The visitors took the lead three times in north London and were ahead with nine minutes of normal time remaining, only for Rodrigo Bentancur to score a late double.
Leeds have shipped 26 goals in 14 Premier League games this season at a rate of 1.86 per 90 minutes – only Nottingham Forest (2) and Bournemouth (2.13) have fared worse.
Marsch, who had seen the pressure on him ease following back-to-back league wins prior to the Spurs loss, admits it has been a familiar theme for his side this campaign.
"I'm gutted, I feel like someone has ripped my heart out," he told BBC Sport. "I thought we had control of the match but then we let it slip.
"There's obviously positives in there because in our good moments we look like we have quality, but in our bad, we still look vulnerable and naive.
"We get leads and then we give it away immediately because we don't stick to our principles. If we can then we can be a good team.
"Mentally, the guys have invested so much, there's been ups and downs. We need to gather ourselves, have a break and then come back and keep pushing.
"A little bit of everything needs strengthening, we need to learn to manage the game as a group at all moments."
Crysencio Summerville and Rodrigo both scored for a fourth straight game for Leeds, with the latter netting twice following Harry Kane and Ben Davies equalisers.
But Argentina midfielder Bentancur scored in the 81st and 83rd minutes – his first brace in Europe's top five leagues on his 164th such outing – as Spurs returned to winning ways.
Tottenham have trailed in 14 of their 22 games in all competitions this term, including the past eight in a row, but Antonio Conte was delighted with his side's fighting spirit.
"I think this game made many people very happy," he said at his post-match news conference. "If you're in the stadium you've seen a 4-3 score, with attractive football.
"In a lot of games we were losing and then we came back. I think we showed great character, desire and great will not to give up, to believe in the win.
"I try every day to transfer this concept. We need to fight and never give up. Never give up is our mantra. This is the positive side.
"The negative side is that we conceded three goals, which is never good. A team that wants to be competitive, to concede three goals is never positive."
Saturday's thrilling victory was Tottenham's 13th game since the beginning of October and their last until Boxing Day, with domestic top-flight football now pausing for the World Cup.
"If you want to reach a good result, you want to show stability," Conte added. "The last period was really tough for everybody, all the clubs, to play 13 games in 43 days is tough.
"It was impossible to work on the pitch on the tactical aspect. For sure, when you don't work on that you are going to lose something defensively."
Spurs have now scored 31 goals in 15 games in the Premier League this term – they have only bettered that tally at this stage of a season on one occasion, with 35 in 2009-10.
England international Kane has been responsible for 12 of those, making this his joint-best start to a campaign at this stage since the 2017-18 season.
"Harry has played a really important role in this period," Conte said. "If we finished this period in the top four and qualified for the top four, I think we have to praise Harry a lot.
"I think Harry honestly deserves great praise because he is always an important player, but in this period there was a lot of weight on his shoulders and he played in a great way.
"He's arriving at the World Cup with lots of enthusiasm, in a great physical condition and mentally stronger. He's ready. I can see in his eyes he's ready to be the protagonist."
Atletico Madrid 3-1 Athletic Bilbao: Hosts close in on top-four finish
Atletico Madrid beat newly crowned Copa del Rey winners Athletic Bilbao 3-1 at home in LaLiga on Saturday as Diego Simeone's side moved a step closer to a top-four finish.
Fourth-placed Atletico moved onto 64 points and have increased their advantage over Athletic, in fifth, to six points with five games to play.
Midfielder Rodrigo de Paul put Atletico in front in the 15th minute with a goal from outside the box. After controlling an attempted clearance from the visitors, his effort dipped just under the bar as his strike deflected off one of the Athletic defenders.
Athletic levelled just before half-time through Nico Williams after Antoine Griezmann lost the ball through a careless pass.
But Angel Correa restored the lead for Atletico in the 52nd minute and later came close to scoring again.
With 10 minutes to play, away goalkeeper Unai Simon inadvertently made it 3-1 with an own goal after Samuel Lino’s effort came back off the post, ending any Athletic hopes of a comeback.
Hull City 3-3 Ipswich Town: Tigers fight back three times to deny Tractor Boys
Ipswich Town missed the chance to move into an automatic promotion spot as play-off-chasing Hull City came from behind three times in a thrilling 3-3 Championship draw at The MKM Stadium.
Ipswich knew a victory would take them second after Leeds United were surprisingly beaten 4-0 by Queens Park Rangers on Friday, and they led on three separate occasions, George Hirst opening the scoring before Omari Hutchinson produced two brilliant strikes from the edge of the area.
However, buoyed by slip-ups from rivals Norwich City and West Brom earlier on Saturday, Hull dug deep to fight back on each occasion, Ozan Tufan and Liam Delap scoring their first two equalisers.
With Liam Rosenior's men 3-2 down with just four minutes to play, substitute Noah Ohio blasted his shot in off the crossbar to punish an error from Ipswich goalkeeper Vaclav Hladky.
The result keeps Ipswich behind second-placed Leeds on goal difference, though the Tractor Boys have a game in hand to come at Coventry City on Tuesday.
Hull, meanwhile, are two points adrift of the top six, with Norwich's goal difference advantage meaning their top-six spot is all but assured. The Tigers will, however, leapfrog West Brom if they beat Plymouth Argyle on the final day and Albion lose to Preston North End.
Data Debrief: Hutchinson's best not enough
Hutchinson was a man who deserved to be on the winning side on Saturday, giving Ryan Allsop no chance with two near-identical left-footed strikes from the right corner of the penalty area.
His goals came from an expected goals (xG) total of just 0.6, and he led all players on the pitch for shots (eight) and passes in the final third (21), also laying on three chances for his team-mates.
Chelsea and Hayes fall short again in the Champions League
Chelsea and Emma Hayes have once again fallen short of securing a place in the final of the Champions League.
There will be a feeling of déjà vu as Barcelona stopped Chelsea at this stage of the competition last season and seem to be the Blues’ Achilles' heel.
Hayes, who is leaving at the end of season to manage the US Women's National team, was hoping she could complete her last season with Champions League glory, the only trophy to elude her during an illustrious spell at Chelsea, but it was not to be.
Chelsea had pulled off a remarkable result in the first leg and were leading 1-0 at the halfway point of the tie.
With a record crowd of 39,398 roaring them on, it felt like Saturday could be the night on which Chelsea changed their fortunes in this competition.
However, the Catalan holders showed their big-game mentality and Ballon d’or winner Aitana Bonmati had cancelled out Chelsea's lead in the tie within 25 minutes at Stamford Bridge.
The drama ensued from that point on with two huge decisions by referee Iuliana Demetrescu sealing the Blues’ fate.
Kadeisha Buchanan was given her marching orders when she received a somewhat harsh second yellow card just before the hour mark for a foul on Salma Paralluelo, then Fridolina Rolfo scored the all-important goal from the spot when Ashley Lawrence was adjudged to have fouled Bonmati.
Hayes felt aggrieved by the calls made by the Romanian referee and made her feelings known to the officials at the full-time whistle, when she could be seen mouthing the words; ‘we’ve been robbed’.
Hayes could not hide her disappointment when speaking to the media after the tie and had strong words for UEFA.
“I didn’t feel we got the opportunity to lose the game, that was taken away,” said Hayes.
“I was surprised when I saw her [Demetrescu] selected because she’s famous for easy cards and I think that [Buchanan's sending-off] is probably the worst decision in UEFA Women’s Champions League history.
“So when you get such a shocking official decision, there’s nothing you can do about it.
“It’s hard enough when we’ve got 11 against them [Barcelona], but when you’ve got 10 it’s virtually impossible.
“Even Barcelona players said to us they knew the referee was helpful for them. I didn’t think it was a foul [from Buchanan] let alone a yellow card. I’m gutted for the players, we were robbed."
On the red card, Hayes added: “I was stood there and I looked at the fourth official and I said, ‘Surely that will be checked?’ and she said, ‘It can’t on a yellow’.
“But as I said, I think the toughest thing to take is that we didn’t lose it.
“There’s nothing you can do when there’s such a terrible decision and it’s already hard enough. They are a top team. When that’s taken out of your hands, that’s a tough one to take for the players.”
Hayes may have reason to question the appointment of Demetrescu as the data shows she has awarded four penalties in three UEFA Women's Champions League games this season, more than any other referee.
Barcelona have now reached the final for the fourth consecutive year and will face either eight-time champions Lyon or Paris Saint-Germain, the finalists from 2015 and 2017.
Bonmati shared her elation about winning the tie with DAZN after the game, saying: "A little bit lucky but sometimes you have to shoot in the box and you never know."
"It’s amazing, another final," Bonmati added as her team-mates danced and sang in the rain in front of the travelling fans.
"It wasn’t easy because we had a tough team in front of us. We had to sweat our T-shirts to achieve it. I’m proud of my team and let’s go in for another final."
This win saw Barcelona earn their fifth clean sheet from 10 matches in the competition this season, a higher total than any other team has managed.
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