Villarreal fall to Tottenham in London after a strong performance

Villarreal put in a good display in their UEFA Champions League 2025/26 debut, but the all-important goals were missing. In fact, so scarce were they that the only one of the match came from a moment of bad luck for Marcelino’s side.

In the end, the Yellows were beaten 1-0 on their visit to Tottenham Hotspur in London, in a game where they stood tall, grew as it went on and came close to equalising on several occasions.

The match got complicated right from the start. In the third minute, from Tottenham’s very first attack, Luiz Júnior came out to collect a cross from the right by Bergvall, but the ball slipped between his legs and into the net for 1-0.

With the score in their favour, the hosts gave the ball to Villarreal, who looked to break through the pressing line to create danger. In the sixth minute, Comesaña latched onto a rebound after a punch from Vicario, but his shot was deflected wide for a corner. Five minutes later, Pepe tried his luck from the edge of the box, but his effort brushed the post after clipping a defender.

In the 24^th minute, Pepe capitalised on a defensive mistake to set up Buchanan, but the Canadian’s mishit strike drifted wide. On the half-hour mark, Luiz Júnior made up for his early error with a superb save from a low effort by Sarr, stretching to tip away a shot that was heading for the bottom corner. The final 15 minutes of the first half saw a midfield battle with few chances.

After the restart, the Submarine stepped up their pressure in the Londoners’ half. With control of midfield, the Yellows attacked again and again, but Tottenham managed to clear the danger at the last moment. In the 54^th minute, Pepe went close once more with a powerful low strike that missed the target by very little.

From the 70^th minute onwards, Spurs began to wake up again, but Villarreal were still pushing. In the 85^th minute, Pepe’s direct free-kick almost found the equaliser, after a controversial moment when Van de Ven saw only yellow for bringing down Mikautadze on the edge of the box when the Georgian striker was through on goal.

Villarreal’s next match will be on Saturday 20^th September in LALIGA against Osasuna at the Estadio de la Cerámica (6:30pm CEST), while their following Champions League fixture will take place on Wednesday 1^st October at home to Juventus (9pm CEST).