Tottenham Hotspur

"Villarreal boast numerous former Premier League players, including one prolific scorer. They have European nous, but Spurs have added Champions League knowhow, too..."

Rob Daly, official club commentator, presenter and pundit

European experience...

Villarreal, as a club, know how to play in Europe. Unai Emery guided the Yellow Submarine to Europa League glory in 2021, beating Arsenal in the final four and Manchester United in the final. Some of that group remain, such as Gerard Moreno, Dani Parejo and former Tottenham Hotspur defender Juan Foyth (more on him later). The following season, they reached the Champions League semi-finals and gave Liverpool an almighty fright with an impressive comeback from 2-0 down before eventually succumbing to the Reds. Giovani Lo Celso was a star name during that run, on loan from Spurs, which included wins over Bayern and Juventus.

Perez the poacher...

Villarreal have various players familiar with the Premier League, including Ayoze Perez who looks reborn in his home country. During his time with Newcastle and Leicester, the forward made 223 top-flight appearances in England, scoring 45 goals. Having returned to La Liga in 2022, first to join Real Betis, Perez forced his way into the Spain squad to win EURO 2024. Last summer, he joined Villarreal for €4m and, playing either as the main centre-forward or as a second striker, finished with 19 Liga goals last season – all from open play. That was more than the likes of Raphinha or Julian Alvarez. Tajon Buchanan looks a major threat too. The Canadian, signed from Inter, is extremely direct, quick and skilful, scoring a hat-trick in a recent win over Girona, proving to be a major threat down the right wing.

Familiar faces...

Juan Foyth returns to his former club for the first time today. The Argentina defender has played at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium before, making a handful of appearances here following the move to the new stadium in 2019. Having turned out 32 times in total for the club, he joined Villarreal in October 2020, initially on loan before a permanent move the following summer. Manor Solomon could face his parent club, having made 6 appearances for Spurs before an initial loan to Leeds.

Added Champions League experience...

All four of the new signings selected in Spurs’ European squad have Champions League experience. Mohammed Kudus has scored four goals in nine games in the competition for Ajax, while Randal Kolo Muani has made 23 appearances across his spells with Frankfurt, PSG and Juventus. Xavi Simons has spoken about how 2 seasons in the Champions League with Leipzig put him in the right place to make his move to North London, while Joao Palhinha has played in it too for Sporting and Bayern.

Champions League debuts...

However, for many of the group, the Champions League presents unchartered waters. Guglielmo Vicario, Destiny Udogie, Djed Spence, Micky van de Ven, Archie Gray, Lucas Bergvall, Brennan Johnson and Wilson Odobert hope to make a competition debut. It made the Europa League win all the more impressive last season, as many had little to no continental football experience at all going into 2024/25. Ben Davies and Rodrigo Bentancur, with 27 and 37 competition appearances respectively, are the most experienced names in the squad.

Watch | Spurs Weekly

Our eight League Phase opponents in the UEFA Champions League  Tottenham Hotspur

Tuesday night marks our return to UEFA Champions League action as we take on Spanish side Villarreal CF in our first match of the new European campaign at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Much like the Europa League last season, the Champions League has changed format since we last entered in 2022/23, with eight league stages fixtures replacing the previous six group games.

Here’s everything you need to know ahead of matchday one against the visitors from La Liga...

What time does the match start?

We get underway at 8pm UK time.

How can I watch the game?

Tuesday night’s match will be broadcast live in the UK on Amazon Prime Video.

Remember, our Match Centre here on tottenhamhotspur.com and the Spurs Official app also enables you to follow the action with live text and audio commentary throughout the game.

What is the team news?

Transfer deadline day arrival Randal Kolo Muani could make his debut for us after remaining an unused substitute in Saturday’s Premier League win at West Ham.

Dominic Solanke remains sidelined along with James Maddison, Dejan Kulusevski, Radu Dragusin and Yves Bissouma.

The latter is ineligible to feature in the league stage of the Champions League along with Kota Takai and Mathys Tel.

Villarreal could name our former defender Juan Foyth in their side while Manor Solomon – on loan at the Spanish side – is eligible to feature against us.

Logan Costa, Pau Cabanes, Willy Kambwala and Gerard Moreno are out for the visitors.

Who is the referee?

Rade Obrenovič of Slovenia will referee Tuesday night’s match.

He’ll be assisted by Jure Praprotnik and Grega Kordež, with David Šmajc as the fourth official.

Alen Borošak and assistant Bastian Dankert will look after VAR duties.

Which kit colours will the teams be wearing?

We’ll wear our traditional all-Lilywhite home kit as usual in European games.

Villarreal will be in their familiar all-yellow attire.

Our goalkeeper will be in blue, with Villarreal’s in red.

Our impressive 2-0 win at Everton on Sunday afternoon maintained our perfect start to the 2025/26 Barclays Women’s Super League campaign.

A composed finish from Olga Ahtinen in the first half before a 40-yard stunner from Cathinka Tandberg on her full debut for the Club helped us to victory at Goodison Park, securing six points out of six, preserving back-to-back clean sheets, for Head Coach Martin Ho.

And that victory on Merseyside created a number of firsts in the WSL for us.

Remaining defensively secure against West Ham United and the Toffees, we’ve just faced one shot on target – the joint-fewest by a team across their opening two games of the season alongside Manchester City in 2016.

Keeping the two sides at bay with very little opportunities, it has meant that we’ve preserved back-to-back clean sheets for first time in our first two games in England’s top flight.

Meanwhile, it’s just the second time we’ve picked up maximum points in our first two games – having previously achieved this at the start of the 2021/22 season, where we went on to win our opening four games of the campaign.

Watch | Key highlights from our win at Everton

New for this season, our Official Matchday Programme will present fans a collection of photos sourced from a deep dive into our photography archive, most of which have never been seen before, for a feature 'Spurs Unseen'.

We'll bring you a taster of the gallery here on tottenhamhotspur.com...

Next up, as we take on Villarreal in MD1 of the UEFA Champions League at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Tuesday evening (8pm UK) we’ve gathered a series of rare photos which link us to Spanish opponents…

Above - Legendary defender Paul Miller goes flying in with a strong challenge on Barca goalkeeper Urruti in our 1982 European Cup Winners' Cup meeting at White Hart Lane...

Thomas Frank spoke to the media at Hotspur Way on Monday afternoon, ahead of our UEFA Champions League MD1 clash against Villarreal at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Tuesday evening (8pm UK).

Here's what he had to say...

After all your years of management, what does it mean to you personally to be managing your first Champions League game?

Thomas: "It's a big thing, I'm hugely looking forward to it. I know it will be special when the Champions League anthem is playing, that will be the moment. Now, it's preparation, a few more cameras but business as usual, but when we walk out onto the pitch tomorrow, that will be special."

This group of players know how to win in Europe - do you believe you have a squad here that can go all the way in this competition?

"I believe I have a fantastic squad and we would like to go as far as possible. If you enter any competition, you ultimately want to try to win it. The most important thing is one game at a time. We have a game against Villarreal tomorrow, a very good team, very impressed when I've studied them, but we'll do everything we can to get a good start."

It's a huge moment for you in the Champions League - what do you know about Villarreal?

"I've huge respect for Marcelino, he's done a top job. You can see his team is well structured, well orgaised, the way they play - they like to dominate as much as possible on the ball. I've been impressed with what I've seen. It's going to be a good challenge."

Are you a fan of the new Champions League format?

"I'm a person who is open for different things. I saw it from the outside last season, now I need to try it and live it. For now, I think it looks interesting, no matter what the format, it's a Champions League game tomorrow and we look forward to that and we'll do everything we can to win."

Do you have an idea on how many points it might take to get through (the league phase)?

"I'm not focused on that, I'm focused on one thing - let's see if we can beat Villarreal tomorrow. That's most important. After that, we play Brighton - one game at a time."

Tell us about your journey from Griffin Park to the very top of your profession...

"Of course, it's a fantastic opportunity and experience tomorrow. In many ways, as you say, we played at Brentford in the Championship at Griffin Park, a small, compact stadium, tomorrow we're playing in one of the best stadiums in the world, maybe the best, in front of our fantastic fans, a European night, you know they will be absolutely on it, so special, so really looking forward to the first two minutes and the Champions League anthem, then it's focus on the game."

Do you have any early memories of the European Cup or Champions League?

"Of course, I remember 1992, Barcelona against Sampdoria, Michael Laudrup played and Ronald Koeman scored a fantastic free-kick. There have been some stand-out games - we all remember the 1999 Man United treble, the crazy win against Bayern Munich, the Liverpool-Milan 3-3, so many memories, so many big games."

On team news... how close is Dominic Solanke? We didn't see him out there (training). Also, Randal Kolo Muani, how long could he play if you needed him?

"Dom is taking steps in the right direction, that's positive, but he's not ready to be involved tomorrow. Randal is ready. How many minutes? You know, they can always play more minutes than we think. If we needed him to play, he could play 90 minutes, but it's getting him to play at the intensity and level we want. He's ready and he's involved tomorrow and that's the main thing."

We've seen quite a few tactical plans for specific opponents this season - how do you do that when there is such a reduced turn around between games, sometimes only 24 hours to prepare?

"That's a good question! The main thing is way have guiding principles in how we want to defend, for example. It's relatively clear to everyone that we want to go with high pressure, that's no secret, but that may need to be tweaked depending on the opponent, a small adjustment there, the middle pressure, low pressure, but we have guiding principles that hopefully helps the players. Then, it's the same with the offensive side of the game, how we want to break through, how we want to build up, depending on the opponent, they may press in different ways, then we may have to tweak it a little if we end up in a 4-1, 4-2, what solutions we try to find. Then, we try to get that across to the players with videos, 11 vs 11, different ways to do it. I'm a big believer in can we get the right details across in the right amount (of time) because I don't believe in being out there two hours, or having a meeting for one hour, so it's how can we get that balance? Then, they are top players, so we give them guidelines, they make the decisions on the pitch - they are very good at that."

Lucas Bergvall needs your help if he is to be named the Premier League's Player of Matchweek Four!

A new initiative by the Premier League this season, each week, eight players across the competition are shortlisted for the title following their performances in the matchweek.

Across the first two weeks of the season, one of our players claimed the honour with Richarlison taking the inaugural prize while Joao Palhinha took the honour on week two, all thanks to your votes - and this week, we can make it three wins in just four weeks with Lucas now nominated.

Shortlisted after his imperious display in our 3-0 win over West Ham United on Saturday, the Swede was sublime at the London Stadium. Despite being just 19 years old, Lucas bagged both a goal and assist, becoming the youngest Spurs player to do so in a game since Nick Barmby 33 years ago.

Becoming our 178th different goalscorer in the Premier League - a record in the competition - Lucas has already been named your Player of the Match from the win over the Hammers.

For the title, the midfielder is up against seven other players - Manchester City's Erling Haaland, Chelsea' Moises Caicedo, Bournemouth Antoine Semenyo, Aston Villa's Emiliano Martinez, Sunderland's Robin Roefs, Newcastle's Nick Woltemade and Arsenal's Martin Zubimendi.

To be named Player of Matchweek Four, Lucas is relying on your help as it is fans votes which decide this one - the link to vote is below...

With the return of UEFA Champions League football comes a return to the UEFA Youth League for our Academy, with the first match coming up on Tuesday afternoon against Villarreal’s youngsters (1pm UK, live on SPURSPLAY).

The high-profile Under-19 tournament gives our young professionals and scholars a chance to test themselves against different clubs from overseas, with fixtures mirroring those of the first team’s Champions League schedule for the first six matches of the league stage.

Our home games will be held at Hotspur Way on the afternoon of each senior matchday, with Villarreal Under-19s first up on Tuesday lunchtime, just hours before the first team game at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Under-21s Coach Wayne Burnett will once again lead our team in the competition, with a number of players from our Under-21s and Under-18s eligible to feature. Players from the latter age group built up some useful momentum ahead of the game with a 5-0 win at West Ham in the Under-18 Premier League at the weekend.

Tuesday’s match marks our first outing in the UEFA Youth League since the 2022/23 campaign.

Supporters will be able to watch the game live on SPURSPLAY, our home of live and on-demand video content. If you’re not already a subscriber, find out more and sign up here.

A limited number of tickets are available for supporters wishing to attend the match in person, although fans are reminded that UEFA Youth League fixtures are strictly all-ticket and no admittance will be granted to those not in possession of a match ticket.

We’ll also keep supporters updated via our Academy social media channels, with a full report to follow after the game here on tottenhamhotspur.com as usual.

Cathinka Tandberg has been named your HSBC Player of the Match after her impressive full debut in the 2-0 win at Everton.

Making her first start at Goodison Park after joining from Hammarby IF earlier this month, the Norway international has taken the majority of your votes to claim her first award of the campaign.

Leading our attack on Merseyside, the 21-year-old was heavily involved in both our goals as we maintained our perfect start to the Barclays Women’s Super League, making it six points out of six while also preserving back-to-back clean sheets for the first time in March, 2024.

Just under 30 minutes into her first start in our colours, ‘Tinka’ made an instant impact in front of over 6,000 supporters inside Goodison Park as she provided the assist for Olga Ahtinen’s opener with a clever flick to the midfielder inside the box to help us break the deadlock in the first period.

Then, four minutes after the restart, the imposing forward opened her account for the Club in sensational style. Having spotted Courtney Brosnan off her line throughout the first half and receiving the ball around 40 yards out after some excellent pressing from captain Bethany England, our number 19 sent an audacious first-time lob over the back-peddling shot stopper and into the back of the net.

As well as helping us to double our advantage, Tinka put in a strong all round performance on the pitch, winning the most duels (12) in the contest, as she provided a useful outlet in our build-up play.

Watch | Tandberg's 40-yard stunner

Thomas Frank says Randal Kolo Muani is ready to play his part in our UEFA Champions League opener against Villarreal on Tuesday evening (8pm UK).

The striker remained an unused substitute in our 3-0 win at West Ham on Saturday and could now step up for his debut in Matchday One of the league phase against the La Liga side at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

However, fellow forward Dominic Solanke remains sidelined with an ankle issue.

Speaking at his pre-match press conference at Hotspur Way on Monday afternoon, Thomas reported: "Randal is ready. How many minutes? You know, they can always play more minutes than we think. If we needed him to play, he could play 90 minutes, but it's getting him to play at the intensity and level we want. He's ready and he's involved tomorrow and that's the main thing.

"Dom is taking steps in the right direction, that's positive, but he's not ready to be involved tomorrow."

Long-term absentees Radu Dragusin, Dejan Kulusevski and James Maddison remain out.