Follow live coverage of six games on opening night of Champions League
Calamitous own goal puts Tottenham 1-0 up against Villarreal
Watch BBC Radio 5 Live Champions League Final Score at top of page, including commentary from Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
Real Madrid drawing 1-1 at home to Marseille as Alexander-Arnold off injured
Arsenal beat Athletic Club 2-0 as subs Martinelli & Trossard both score
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Thomas Frank gives Spurs patience. Everything Ange did was attempting things at 100mph. You definitely can't do that in Europe
Nicholas, Gloucester
Tottenham 1-0 Villarreal
Sami Mokbel
BBC Sport Senior football correspondent at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
It feels like Tottenham are slowing the game right down deliberately before suddenly injecting pace and directness into their play.
Villarreal are struggling to cope when Spurs put their foot on the gas.
Tottenham 1-0 Villarreal
Chris Sutton
Former Premier League striker on BBC Radio 5 Live at Tottenham Hotspur stadium
Tottenham are really taking the game to Villarreal now. Kudus is getting more and more involved on the right hand side.
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Poor keeper, he came right forward to make sure he didn't push the ball out to a Spurs player and covered it too well. It was like a batsman going right back to play a pull shot and treading on the stumps.
Jeremy, Oxfordshire
Image source, ReutersTottenham 1-0 Villarreal
Mohammed Kudus just gets fans on their feet when he's on the ball.
He drives into the box on the right-hand side and tries to cut it back for Lucas Bergvall but a block puts it in the path of Rodrigo Bentancur.
His first-time effort takes a big deflection.
Vangelis Pavlidis (16 mins)
An absolute gift for Vangelis Pavlidis and this game looks beyond Qarabag already.
The ball rebounds off a defender before falling into the path of Pavlidis and he makes absolutely no mistake.
Tottenham 1-0 Villarreal
Chris Sutton
Former Premier League striker on BBC Radio 5 Live at Tottenham Hotspur stadium
Spurs have got quite a generous draw in this competition. Copenhagen at home, Slavia Prague at home... If they see this through tonight and make a good start they will be in a good position.
Image source, Getty ImagesTottenham 1-0 Villarreal
Villarreal on top when it comes to possession at the moment. They've not let that early goal get them down.
Tottenham 1-0 Villarreal
A good defensive header from Richarlison on the corner prevents it coming to much for the visitors.
Tottenham 1-0 Villarreal
Chris Sutton
Former Premier League striker on BBC Radio 5 Live at Tottenham Hotspur stadium
Coming in from that right hand side, coming in on his left-hand side, Pepe breezes past Romero. Fortunately for Spurs it takes a deflection because I think that was heading in.
Tottenham 1-0 Villarreal
Good run from Nicolas Pepe, skipping past a couple of Tottenham players.
He hits it sweetly with his left foot aiming for the far corner but a slight deflection takes it wide of the post for a corner.
Real Madrid 0-0 Marseille
It's a real blow for Trent Alexander-Arnold. He was left on the bench in La Liga over the weekend and this was his chance to impress.
Will he be fit for a return to Anfield when Real take on Liverpool at the start of November?
Image source, Getty ImagesTottenham 1-0 Villarreal
Spurs will no doubt try to put Luiz Junior under as much pressure as possible after that early howler.
Lucas Bergvall's long throw in doesn't come to much but bodies in the box will surely make the Villarreal goalkeeper a bit nervy.
Enzo Barrenechea (6 mins)
Over in Portugal, it's a dream start for Benfica as they take the lead against Qarabag.
It's Enzo Barrenechea with the finish in what proves to be even more of an uphill battle for the Azerbaijan side now.
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Spurs to score more than 4
Llyr
Tottenham 1-0 Villarreal
Chris Sutton
Former Premier League striker on BBC Radio 5 Live at Tottenham Hotspur stadium
It will be a good battle down the Tottenham right hand side. Porro's strength is going forward, not so much defensively, and Buchanan with his pace will test him.
Image source, PA MediaTottenham 1-0 Villarreal
A shocker indeed, but Spurs won't care.
Villarreal have played 14 matches against English opponents in the Champions League and are still looking for their first victory (L8, D6).
They've done themselves no favours conceding that early goal.
Real Madrid 0-0 Marseille
Trent Alexander-Arnold can't believe his luck as he runs with the ball before suddenly feeling his left hamstring go.
He drops to the floor and Dani Carvajal is getting stripped and ready to come on.
Image source, Getty ImagesTottenham 1-0 Villarreal
Chris Sutton
Former Premier League striker on BBC Radio 5 Live at Tottenham Hotspur stadium
What is the goalkeeper doing?
It's a good run from Bergvall down the right channel and with the cross he is trying to pick out Richarlison
Luiz Junior dives down to his right hand side and ends up pushing the ball backwards into his own net. It's an absolute shocker.
Image source, ReutersTottenham 1-0 Villarreal
Alan Shearer
Former Newcastle striker on Amazon Prime
It's really good play down the right-hand side from Bergvall. The keeper comes out and makes an absolute hash of it. What a start. What a gift for Tottenham.
You take them all day as a Tottenham player and a fan.
| Team | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Goals For | Goals Against | Goal Difference | Points | Form, Last 6 games, Oldest first |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 Union Saint-Gilloise | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
|
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| |
3 Benfica | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
|
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| |
| 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| |
| 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| |
| 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| |
| 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| |
9 Ajax | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
|
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| |
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| |
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| |
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| |
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| |
15 Bodø / Glimt | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
|
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| |
17 Club Brugge | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
|
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| |
19 København | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
|
20 Galatasaray | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
|
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| |
22 Kairat | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
|
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| |
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| |
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| |
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| |
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| |
28 Olympiakos Piraeus | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
|
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| |
30 Pafos | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
|
31 Slavia Prague | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
|
32 Sporting CP | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
|
33 Qarabağ | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -1 | 0 |
|
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 0 |
| |
35 PSV | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | -2 | 0 |
|
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | -2 | 0 |
|
Manager: Thomas Frank
Formation: 4 - 1 - 4 - 1
Manager: Marcelino García
Formation: 4 - 4 - 2
Manager: Thomas Frank
Formation: 4 - 1 - 4 - 1
Manager: Marcelino García
Formation: 4 - 4 - 2
UEFA Champions League
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This will be the first meeting between Tottenham and Villarreal in European competition, with Spurs winning just one of their last 13 matches against Spanish opposition in major European competition (D5 L7).
Villarreal have played 14 matches against English opponents in the UEFA Champions League and are still looking for their first victory (D6 L8), while losing each of the last seven in a row. Over half of their defeats in the competition have been against English opposition (57% - 8/14).
This will be third time that Villarreal have played their opening game of a UEFA Champions League campaign against an English side (out of five seasons). The previous two were both against Manchester United and both finished 0-0, in 2005-06 and 2008-09.
Tottenham have only won their opening game of a European Cup/UEFA Champions League campaign in two of their seven attempts (D2 L3). However, those two have arrived on the last two occasions where they have played their opener at home: 2-0 v Marseille in 2022-23 and 3-1 v Borussia Dortmund in 2017-18.
Villarreal’s last match in the UEFA Champions League came in the semi-finals of the 2021-22 edition, losing 2-5 on aggregate to Liverpool. The Spaniards won three of their six away games in that campaign (D1 L2), more than they managed in 14 away matches across their three previous appearances in this competition (W2 D5 L7).
Tottenham manager Thomas Frank will take charge of a team in the UEFA Champions League for the first time – in fact, his only previous experience of managing in European competition came in qualifying for the UEFA Europa League, winning just three of 10 matches with Brøndby IF (D4 L3).
42 percent of Tottenham’s goals in the UEFA Champions League (since 1992-93) have been scored by Harry Kane or Son Heung-min (37/89). Following the departures of both, the only current Tottenham player with more than one goal for the club in the competition is Richarlison (2).
Villarreal forward Georges Mikautadze has been directly involved in seven goals in eight starts in major European competition to date (four goals, three assists), with all of those coming for Lyon in the UEFA Europa League last season.
Randal Kolo Muani could feature for a fourth different team (Tottenham) in the UEFA Champions League since the start of 2022-23, having previously appeared for Eintracht Frankfurt, Paris SG and Juventus. No active Champions League player has played for as many as four different teams in this period.
Villarreal defender Juan Foyth made his UEFA Champions League debut for Tottenham back in December 2017 (v APOEL Nicosia). Indeed, the Argentinean remains the youngest player to start a home game for the club in the competition (19y 328d in that match).
