Tottenham’s late collapse saw them blow a 2-0 UEFA Super Cup lead with five minutes to play as Paris Saint-Germain snatched the first European trophy of the season on penalties in Udine.
Set-piece goals from Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero either side of half-time had looked set to give Thomas Frank a dream start in his first competitive game as Spurs boss, with a heroic defensive performance keeping the Champions League winners at bay for large parts of the game in Italy.
PSG had only returned to training last week amid a truncated pre-season following their Club World Cup final defeat to Chelsea a month to the day earlier. They appeared rusty until Luis Enrique changed both his gameplan and his selection with an hour gone.
The introduction of Fabian Ruiz made a particular impact as Spurs tired, and their backline was finally breached in the dying minutes as fellow substitute Kang-In Lee rifled in from the edge of the box.
Tottenham still seemed likely to hold on for a second trophy in less than three months with their advantage in tact until the 94th minute – when Goncalo Ramos’ stooping header sent the game to the lottery of penalties.
True to form, Spurs took the lead in the shoot-out after Vitinha missed PSG’s first kick, but once Van de Ven and Mathys Tel both failed to score from 12 yards, Nuno Mendes stepped up to cement their heartbreak as the French champions bounced back from that Chelsea loss by the barest of margins.
Tottenham head coach Thomas Frank shared that he believes his team is good to ‘face anyone’ “In one game, I think we can show we can play against any team in the world. I’m not in doubt about that and that’s a positive to take away from this.
“We had them exactly where we wanted them for 80-something minutes until they made it 2-1. Then it shifted the momentum but I’m so proud of the team, players, club and fans.
“We showed we can be adaptable and pragmatic. We needed to be that against a team like PSG with the way we wanted to defend with both high pressure and a low block. The first half was almost perfect and the set-pieces were very dangerous.
“I think we played a very good game against one of the best teams in the world, maybe the best.” Thomas Frank added.
The English Premier League starts this weekend for Tottenham.