Spurs' return to the Champions League starts with a home match against La Liga outfit Villarreal as Thomas Frank starts his major task as the new Tottenham head coach
Both recent Europa League champions, Tottenham Hotspur and Villarreal, set their sights on Champions League success as they face off in Tuesday’s league phase opener in North London. The Lilywhites earned their return to Europe’s top competition by lifting the Europa League trophy last season, ending a 17-year wait for major silverware, while Villarreal secured their place with a fifth-place finish in La Liga.
Thomas Frank, inheriting the reins from Ange Postecoglou, will lead Tottenham into Champions League action for the first time. Postecoglou’s tenure culminated in Europa League glory, but it was ultimately Tottenham’s disappointing 17th-place Premier League finish that ended his spell in charge. Early signs under former Brentford boss Frank have been encouraging, with Spurs showing resilience and quality—apart from a single slip-up at home to Bournemouth.
Tottenham continued their strong start on Saturday, recording their third win and third clean sheet of the Premier League campaign by dispatching West Ham United 3-0, thanks to goals from Pape Sarr, Lucas Bergvall, and Micky van de Ven. While Spurs suffered a UEFA Super Cup defeat to Paris Saint-Germain, they emerged with credit, and their recent European record is impressive: they are unbeaten in their last 20 UEFA home fixtures and have scored in all but one of their last 16 continental matches—the lone exception being a narrow 1-0 loss to AZ Alkmaar in last year’s Europa League round of 16.
Villarreal, meanwhile, enjoyed their own Europa League triumph in 2021, defeating Manchester United on penalties to claim their first major trophy. That success was followed by a surprise run to the Champions League semi-finals the next season, but the Yellow Submarine have not reached the competition since, suffering last-16 exits in both the Conference League (2023) and Europa League (2024).
Thanks to Spain’s strong UEFA coefficient, Villarreal’s fifth-place league finish was enough to bring them back to the Champions League. However, Marcelino’s side have hit a rough patch at a critical moment: after opening the 2025-26 La Liga season with victories over Real Oviedo and Girona, they have managed just one point from their last two matches—a draw with Celta Vigo and a 2-0 defeat to Atletico Madrid.
Historically, Villarreal have struggled against English opposition in the Champions League, failing to win any of their 14 encounters (eight losses, six draws). Tottenham, for their part, have also found Spanish teams challenging, with just two wins from 14 previous UEFA matches against La Liga clubs.
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