Tottenham were vastly improved from Sunday's North London Derby, yet they still succumbed to a crazy 5-3 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday night.
Thomas Frank has raised eyebrows more often than not with his team selections, and his personnel on Wednesday night had supporters theologising for 75 minutes until kick-off. By the time 57-year-old Spurs legend Ivan PeriÅ¡iÄ gave PSV Eindhoven the lead at Anfield, we were still trying to work out the configuration of yellow shirts in Paris.
It looked like a 4-4-2 out of possession and potentially a 4-3-1-2 with it. Lucas Bergvall had plenty of space to roam in a rather fluid midfield that sought to congest central areas and disrupt PSG's flow. Crucially, Spurs were infinitely more aggressive in their press, and they settled into the game nicely.
There was joy to be had down PSG's right, even in the absence of a nominal winger, and it was through a Bergvall and Archie Gray combination down this flank from which Spurs took the lead. Bergvall's flick found his onrushing companion in stride, and Gray's cross was perfectly nodded back across goal by Randal Kolo Muani. Richarlison couldn't miss. Suddenly, I was emotionally involved in the contest. This wasn't the plan.
Frank's side had been brave in Paris. This felt like a masterclass from the suddenly derided manager, and it was incredibly frustrating that another passive sequence on the edge of our box allowed PSG to restore parity just before half-time. Vitinha's strike was superb, it has to be said, but his effort was one of three strikes from distance the holders had in the first half. Their only attacking moment of note was squandered by Warren Zaïre-Emery.
The dopamine spike from Kolo Muani's first Spurs goal, which restored our advantage amid a bright start to the second half, was cruelly sapped in the blink of an eye. By the 66th minute, the vistors were 4-2 down: another Vitinha strike from the edge, a build-up error, and a scrappy set-piece second phase. It felt... avoidable.
The chaotic contest that no one projected continued with Kolo Muani offering hope, but a Romero handball was punished via a penalty, and Vitinha's maiden senior hat-trick surely sealed victory for the hosts, who looked more like 2024/25 selves as the game wore on.
But hey, at least this was a performance to be frustrated about, not embarrassed by. Progress!
PSG 5-3 Tottenham player ratings
Goalkeeper & Defenders
Guglielmo Vicario (GK): 5/10 â Can't blame him for the goals, but for Fabian's, it was his far-from-ideal pass into Cristian Romero that triggered the nightmare sequence.
Pedro Porro (RB): 6/10 â Back in the XI, Porro simply has to offer more in possession. His delivery has let him down more often than not this season, and we know the Spaniard can emerge as a major threat within Frank's framework.
Cristian Romero (CB): 4/10 â Excellent for 45 minutes, but didn't cover himself in glory after the restart, especially with the ball. Penalty giveaway, too.
Micky van de Ven (CB): 6.5/10 â Fine. Not much to comment.
Djed Spence (LB): 7/10 â A reminder that Djed is really fast. Was a useful outlet today, and held up well defensively.
Continued on the next slide...