Tottenham Hotspur kicked off their Champions League campaign with a hard-fought 1-0 win at home to Villarreal in the first-ever H2H, with the Yellow Submarine now winless in 15 matches against English opposition in the competition.
2025/2026 UEFA Champions League
1-0
Match Report
Playing in the UCL as winners of Europe’s second-tier competition, Tottenham got off to the perfect start, opening the scoring inside four minutes after Villarreal goalkeeper Luiz Júnior inadvertently turned Lucas Bergvall’s cross into the back of his own net. The Spanish side looked to immediately respond as former Arsenal man Nicolas Pépé drove at the Spurs defence before cutting inside and curling his effort just past the post.
Pépé was proving to be the danger man for the Yellow Submarine as he pounced on a poor clearance from the hosts before picking out Tajon Buchanan, but the Canadian international let the Spurs defence off the hook by skewing his shot wide. As the HT drew closer, the home side thought they were going to have the chance to double their lead from the penalty spot after Richarlison was brought down in the box, but following a VAR review, no spot-kick was given, keeping the scoreline at 1-0 going into the interval.
Villarreal looked the most dangerous side following the restart, and created the better early chances as Juan Foyth headed wide, before Pépé flashed a shot inches wide of the post after a high press saw Spurs give the ball away in a dangerous area. Thomas Frank’s men managed to ride the storm and create their own momentum going forward, but several half-chances came to nothing.
Neither side was able to capitalise on their opportunities in the frenetic closing stages, with Pépé summing up his evening by flashing another effort wide of the post late on from a free-kick on the edge of the box. In the end it was the solitary goal that proved to be enough for Spurs to begin their UCL campaign with a victory and a clean sheet. Defeat leaves Villarreal without a win in three matches across all competitions, and a tricky game against Juventus awaits them on matchday two.
Line-ups
Tottenham XI: Vicario, Bentancur, Richarlison, Cristian Romero, Mohammed Kudus, Spence, Porro, Pape Sarr, Van de Ven, Xavi Simons, Bergvall
Subs: Ben Davies, Palhinha, Danso, Austin, Muani, Udojie, Brennan Johnson, Dane Scarlett, Kinsky, Odobert, Gray, Jun'ai Byfield
Villarreal XI: Ayoze Perez, Pepe, Santi Comesaña, Foyth, Pape Gueye, Sergi Cardona, Buchanan, Georges Mikautadze, Luiz Júnior, Renato Veiga, Santiago Mouriño
Subs: Parejo, Partey, Pedraza, Manor Solomon, Arnau Tenas, Diego Conde, Adrià Altimira, Rafa Marín, Alberto Moleiro, Ilias Akhomach, Tani Oluwaseyi, Pau Navarro