Defeat number 17 of Tottenham's shambolic Premier League campaign was one to hammer home something we knew already. That they have long since given up on this competition and that everything hinges on Thursday night in Frankfurt.
The Europa League is the last vestige of respectability. And yet the careless and untidy performances like this one encapsulate much of what has gone wrong in Ange Postecoglou's second season.
Wolverhampton Wanderers were excellent. Quicker of mind and deed all over the pitch. Bristling with purpose the visitors lacked and worthy of the club's fourth successive victory for the first time in the topflight since 1972.