Last night became tough to watch the longer it went on. Villarreal keeper Luiz Junior managed to clutch at the ball; however, his downward weight onto the ball caused the ball to spin from his grasp and forever goalward.
CALAMITY at the back for Villarreal! 🫣🟡
Spurs were gifted a early goal as Luiz Júnior turned into his own net 🎁 pic.twitter.com/2Fs7EWYEbV
— Amazon Prime Video Sport (@primevideosport) September 16, 2025
Alan Shearer was left scratching his head
Alan Shearer, commenting for Amazon, was having trouble describing what he was seeing:
“The ‘keeper comes out and makes an absolute hash of it,’ the Newcastle legend said. ‘What a gift for Tottenham. The ‘keeper has a nightmare. What a gift.”
Early in the game, just four minutes in, Luiz Júnior made a significant error, fumbling a straightforward cross from Lucas Bergvall into his own net, resulting in a 1-0 loss for Villarreal.
Despite this mistake, Júnior did manage to make two saves during his 90 minutes on the pitch, with one goal conceded due to an own goal.
Tottenham struggled offensively, managing just nine shots with one on target, the lowest among Tuesday’s Champions League matches.
Richarlison missed a notable chance to double the lead with a header, and the team’s passing was sloppy, often halting promising moves. Mohammed Kudus showed flashes of quality but lacked precision in his final ball, while Xavi Simons was also fortunate to avoid a second yellow card.
Pragmatism from Thomas Frank
Under Frank, Tottenham displayed a pragmatic approach, prioritising defensive organisation over expansive play. This was evident in their willingness to sit deeper in the second half, a departure from Postecoglou’s high-pressing style. While effective for the result, it led to a “dour” match that lacked entertainment for neutrals.
The gaffer told SpursPlay:
“I’m very happy with the win, very happy with the three points, very happy with the clean sheet and how we defended throughout the game – we gave very little away.
“The effort, the structure, the principles are very good most of the time. The togetherness, that grind in a game when everything’s not free flowing, it’s so important if you want to win enough games over the season.
“Obviously, the offensive side of the game was not free flowing, and that’s a little down to on the day, we didn’t hit our highest level.
We also need to give credit to Villarreal, they worked hard, they were super aggressive in defence and defended well and we weren’t quite in sync, we lost a few easy balls and passes.
