When Charles Aránguiz struck for goal midway through the second half everything seemed to lapse into slow-motion. It was Tottenham Hotspur’s misfortune the ball deflected first off Ben Davies and then off Kyle Walker to fall perfectly for Kevin Kampl. The Bayer Leverkusen midfielder took one touch before he swept it low past Hugo Lloris from close-range.

This was no streaky Leverkusen success. They had a plan to stifle Tottenham which they executed to perfection and it was the Bundesliga team who had the best of the limited crop of chances. Not for the first time in recent weeks Tottenham failed to click in an attacking sense and it was difficult to remember Bernd Leno being truly extended in the Leverkusen goal.

Eric Dier rattled the crossbar with an 83rd minute free-kick, when Leno was beaten, but there would be no bail out for Tottenham. They had been dismal in the first half and not too much better in the second. So many of their players picked the worst possible moment to give their worst performances of the season and it was a reflection of the frustration that there were boos from the crowd at full-time.

Tottenham had slipped to a 2-1 defeat here against Monaco in their opening Champions League Group E tie but at least on that occasion, they had played with a bit of drive. This time they could not free themselves from the shackles of Leverkusen’s pressing and with Monaco beating CSKA Moscow, their hopes of reaching the knock-out rounds hang by a thread.

A crowd of 85,512 – a record for an English club’s home game – watched Tottenham’s goal drought continue; they have scored only three times in six matches in all competitions and if Wembley continued to feel a long way from home, it was certainly a terrible way to prepare for Sunday’s derby at Arsenal.

Leverkusen pressed high and hard from the first whistle and no Tottenham player seemed immune to their pressure, and that included Lloris, who struggled to play out from the back. Tottenham set the tone for the evening in the early running with a series of sloppy balls, whether as a result of their opponents’ hustling or otherwise, and for long spells it seemed as though there were dark shirts everywhere.

Roger Schmidt, the Leverkusen manager, got his tactics spot-on; Tottenham gasped for breath and by the midway point of the first half the home fans had grown edgy. They howled whenever one of their players misplaced a pass, which was often, and it was startling to see how poorly those in white looked after the ball when in possession.

Walker had a dismal game, in which he made a clutch of big errors while Ben Davies and Dier were also badly off-colour in defence. Tottenham had reason to be grateful to Jan Vertonghen – the centre-half was the only player to emerge with any credit.

Further forward, Moussa Sissoko had an evening to forget, Christian Eriksen and Dele Alli toiled, and Son Heung-min was anonymous.

The Wembley factor underscored the occasion. Mauricio Pochettino, the Tottenham manager, had spoken on Tuesday about how he had been lifted, as a visiting Argentina player in 2000, by the stadium’s reputation and it could be argued that those of Monaco and Leverkusen have felt the same way.

Then again everything is relative and it was Tottenham who had the backing of the huge crowd. Why could they not have been lifted even higher?

Pochettino had started with a 4-2-3-1 formation, with Son as the No9 and Vincent Janssen on the bench. But he changed after 30 minutes. He had to do something. He has talked of 4-1-4-1 as being his Plan B and he implemented it, taking off Mousa Dembélé, who had twisted an ankle, and sending on Janssen up front. Son moved wide.

Leverkusen had the first half’s only clear chance on 43 minutes after Walker had taken a heavy touch and been robbed by Julian Brandt. The Leverkusen midfielder was stopped by Vertonghen’s tackle but when the ball broke for Javier Hernández, he looked odds-on to score. Vertonghen stretched again to divert the striker’s shot past the far post. Janssen flickered. He thought he had beaten Jonathan Tah only to be penalised for a foul on him which voided his subsequent shot.

Janssen also dragged beyond the far post early in the second half on the second phase of a Tottenham break. The first had seen Alli tumble over Omer Toprak’s outstretched leg inside the area. No penalty. Alli looked to have initiated the contact.

Walker burst forward but shot wide and after a Dier error another chance opened up for Leverkusen’s Hernández but once again his shot was blocked by Vertonghen. Hernández’s follow-up was saved by Lloris.

Tottenham almost snatched what would have been a precious point when Dier’s free-kick thumped against the woodwork and Janssen almost converted the rebound, only for Toprak to clear.

There was also the moment when Davies sent a low shot past the far post. Tottenham, though, did not do enough to merit reward.