Tottenham star Micky van de Ven has spoken after Tuesday night’s narrow Champions League win over Villarreal.
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Tottenham star Micky van de Ven has pointed out the big change under Thomas Frank after Tuesday night’s opening night Champions League win over Villarreal in North London. It was a somewhat fortunate win for Spurs, who were gifted a goal after just four minutes when Villarreal goalkeeper Luiz Junior made a huge error, fumbling a relatively harmless cross into his own net.
Spurs did well to limit their visitors to no shots on goal, but Thomas Frank’s men only managed nine shots in total, on or off target, and no Champions League side managed less on the competition’s opening night.
On the balance of play, a draw might have been a fairer result, but that’s what will make these three points taste so sweet to Spurs, and after the game, Van de Ven told Amazon Prime Video: “I think we are a difficult team to play against, for sure. Structure-wise we are standing really good and we all know what to do, so we're a difficult team to beat."
He added: “I think it was a tough one, not an easy one. We didn't play well today but it was an important one. We had a really good start and of course you want to build on that but Villarreal are a really difficult team to play against. Also, every time on the counter-attack they keep the strikers forward, they're really dangerous. Of course you want to build on the 1-0 at the start of the game but at the end we got the three points and that's the most important."
Van de Ven was very fortunate not to get sent off late int he game when he bashed over Georges Mikautadze just outside the box. Asked whether he was lucky to avoid the sending off, he added: “Of course you never know what the referee is going to do in that moment. I think because I go for the ball it's not a red card. I haven't seen it back properly, so I cant say what I think at the moment."
Van de Ven was actually one of the standout Spurs performers on Tuesday night, and BBC 5Live commentator Conor McNamara said on coverage after the game: “There was a control that Tottenham were able to exert here, where they just shut down their opponent. So much to be admired, particularly Micky van de Ven. He was immense.”
On the Spurs win, BBC pundit Chris Sutton said: “Tottenham didn't really find too much rhythm in the game, and part of that that was down to Villarreal and how they were set up, they frustrated them. But was tonight not just about finding a way to win? They did that and they saw it through. In terms of this competition, that is a massive win. Three points and sitting in a pretty good position ahead of the home games against Copenhagen and Slavia Prague to come.”