The Daly Brief | Villarreal vs Spurs, UEFA Champions League
Tue 16 September 2025, 09:45|
Tottenham Hotspur
"Villarreal boast numerous former Premier League players, including one prolific scorer. They have European nous, but Spurs have added Champions League knowhow, too..."
Rob Daly, official club commentator, presenter and pundit
European experience...
Villarreal, as a club, know how to play in Europe. Unai Emery guided the Yellow Submarine to Europa League glory in 2021, beating Arsenal in the final four and Manchester United in the final. Some of that group remain, such as Gerard Moreno, Dani Parejo and former Tottenham Hotspur defender Juan Foyth (more on him later). The following season, they reached the Champions League semi-finals and gave Liverpool an almighty fright with an impressive comeback from 2-0 down before eventually succumbing to the Reds. Giovani Lo Celso was a star name during that run, on loan from Spurs, which included wins over Bayern and Juventus.
Perez the poacher...
Villarreal have various players familiar with the Premier League, including Ayoze Perez who looks reborn in his home country. During his time with Newcastle and Leicester, the forward made 223 top-flight appearances in England, scoring 45 goals. Having returned to La Liga in 2022, first to join Real Betis, Perez forced his way into the Spain squad to win EURO 2024. Last summer, he joined Villarreal for €4m and, playing either as the main centre-forward or as a second striker, finished with 19 Liga goals last season – all from open play. That was more than the likes of Raphinha or Julian Alvarez. Tajon Buchanan looks a major threat too. The Canadian, signed from Inter, is extremely direct, quick and skilful, scoring a hat-trick in a recent win over Girona, proving to be a major threat down the right wing.
Familiar faces...
Juan Foyth returns to his former club for the first time today. The Argentina defender has played at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium before, making a handful of appearances here following the move to the new stadium in 2019. Having turned out 32 times in total for the club, he joined Villarreal in October 2020, initially on loan before a permanent move the following summer. Manor Solomon could face his parent club, having made 6 appearances for Spurs before an initial loan to Leeds.
Added Champions League experience...
All four of the new signings selected in Spurs’ European squad have Champions League experience. Mohammed Kudus has scored four goals in nine games in the competition for Ajax, while Randal Kolo Muani has made 23 appearances across his spells with Frankfurt, PSG and Juventus. Xavi Simons has spoken about how 2 seasons in the Champions League with Leipzig put him in the right place to make his move to North London, while Joao Palhinha has played in it too for Sporting and Bayern.
Champions League debuts...
However, for many of the group, the Champions League presents unchartered waters. Guglielmo Vicario, Destiny Udogie, Djed Spence, Micky van de Ven, Archie Gray, Lucas Bergvall, Brennan Johnson and Wilson Odobert hope to make a competition debut. It made the Europa League win all the more impressive last season, as many had little to no continental football experience at all going into 2024/25. Ben Davies and Rodrigo Bentancur, with 27 and 37 competition appearances respectively, are the most experienced names in the squad.
