PSG 2-2 Tottenham (4-3 pens): Spurs let 2-0 lead slip in closing stages to miss out on UEFA Super Cup

New York Times

2 days ago

Paris Saint-Germain have added the UEFA Super Cup to their 2025 trophy haul, beating Tottenham Hotspur on penalties after a 2-2 draw in 90 minutes.
Before the game some had wondered if Spurs would be blown away by PSG like Inter had been in May's Champions League final, but it quickly became clear that Thomas Frank had set up his new team in a typically robust formation, with three centre-halves and two mobile wing-backs. The approach ceded the ball to the Ligue 1 side but they were unable to do very much with it. Tottenham, meanwhile, looked dangerous on the break — with Richarlison and Mohammed Kudus linking well up front.
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The opening goal was almost pure Brentford in its construction. A Guglielmo Vicario indirect free-kick was recycled in the penalty area, and after a Palhinha shot was tipped onto the bar by Lucas Chevalier, Micky van de Ven followed up to give Spurs a surprise — but fully deserved — lead. The Champions League winners trudged in at half-time without having generated a single shot on target, only the fifth time that has happened in the Luis Enrique era.
Within three minutes of the restart Spurs were 2-0 up. Another indirect free-kick, another header at the back post, and this time Cristian Romero's effort squirmed over Chevalier's fingers. But PSG inevitably grew into the game as the second half progressed, and had a goal disallowed for offside after 66 minutes. Enrique's side continued to press in the closing stages and finally broke through in the 85th minute via a driven finish from Kang-In Lee.
It made for a nervy denouement for the Spurs fans and their worst fears were realised when a Dembele cross was headed home by Goncalo Ramos in injury time. That took the match to penalties, and though Vitinha missed PSG's first, the Parisians were flawless after that, with misses from Van de Ven and Mathys Tel proving terminal for Tottenham.
Jack Pitt-Brooke, Elias Burke and Conor O'Neill analyse the game.
Adding more silverware to a club that has been starved of it for so long is important, and the Spurs players' dejected faces as they watched PSG celebrate with their fans on the pitch at the end of the game demonstrated just how close they were to adding a second trophy to their cabinet in three months.
Still, Frank should take encouragement from his side's performance against the European champions in his first competitive match in charge.
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Sure, Spurs were unable to weather the late spell of pressure, but they were the better side for large parts against a team that many believe is the best in the world. Losing on penalties was a cruel end to a match where Tottenham demonstrated their potential against arguably the best football team in the world.
It's highly unlikely they'll line up in the same way against Burnley on Saturday, with Frank potentially reverting to the 4-2-3-1 formation with two wide forwards on either side of a striker he's used for most of pre-season, but the players should go into that fixture with confidence.
And considering the club are actively pursuing alternatives for the injured James Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski in the transfer market, the prospect of adding an attacking sprinkle to a well-drilled side should prove attractive.
Elias Burke
It came as a universal relief to football fans when UEFA scrapped extra-time from the Super Cup in 2023, with draws now going straight to penalties. Luis Enrique added further intrigue to this year's shootout by handing new goalkeeper Lucas Chevalier his debut after freezing out Gianluigi Donnarumma.
Donnarumma is renowned for his shot-stopping — a strength that extends to penalties — most notably saving three for Italy against England in the Euro 2020 final.
Chevalier was tested first, with Tottenham opening the shootout, but Dominic Solanke coolly found the top-right corner after a short run-up. Vitinha then stepped up for PSG, and took a similarly odd run-up — this time a no-look stutter — but this time the results were disastrous, as he fired wide.
Bentancur and Ramos then both smashed their efforts home, as Tottenham took a 2-1 lead early on. But then Chevalier showed his potential to fill Donnarumma's void, smothering a tame effort by Van den Ven. Dembele coolly restored parity after.
Mathys Tel's wayward effort mirrored Vitinha's, again a stilted run-up fired wide, this time to the left, before Kang-in gave PSG the lead for the first time. Porro then coolly converted to ensure PSG needed to score their final penalty to win it.
Nuno Mendes duly obliged though, with a confident effort down the middle, capping off his side's remarkable comeback.
Conor O'Neill
The single most impressive thing about Tottenham Hotspur for much of this evening was the amazing pragmatism and intelligence and nous about how they played. This was Thomas Frank's first competitive game in charge and he unveiled a 3-5-2 system unlike anything we saw from them in recent years.
It was a plan perfectly calibrated to maximise Spurs' strengths but also to compromise PSG's. The two wing-backs Djed Spence and Pedro Porro shackled PSG's two full-backs Achraf Hakimi and Nuno Mendes, never allowing them to stretch the play and dominate Spurs.
Tottenham consistently made the middle of the pitch difficult to break through and were always able to break with pace down the middle thanks to Mohammad Kudus and Richarlison. And best of all Spurs were ruthlessly effective from set pieces, scoring twice from clever moves.
In one sense it felt different from what we saw from Spurs in recent years. That view may not be entirely fair: it was Ange Postecoglou's pragmatism in the Europa League campaign that won Spurs that trophy, and that got them into this game in the first place.
But they did not always come into big games against superior opposition with a method to nullify them. That is what we saw from Tottenham this evening, a bespoke plan deployed to perfection for the occasion.
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The frustration from Spurs is that their plan ran out of steam and by 70 or so minutes they had nothing left in the tank. Their pragmatism almost appeared limiting, as they camped in their own box, and were eventually picked off. Which shows that ultimately no game plan is entirely without flaws.
Jack Pitt-Brooke
It's unclear whether Tottenham's counter-punching approach tonight will become Frank's established playstyle or simply a one-off adjustment to contain one of Europe's most potent attacking teams.
One tactical wrinkle that is likely to endure is a greater emphasis on set pieces than under his predecessor, Ange Postecoglou who bucked Premier League trends by not employing a set piece coach.
It paid immediate dividends tonight with both goals coming from this very avenue.
Frank highlighted this shift in focus last week when speaking to The Athletic's Jay Harris: 'Set-pieces are an area I have a big belief in, and it's hugely important, but it was not as highlighted as before, looking from the outside.'
Long throw-ins were always likely to be the first set-piece in Frank's crosshairs given how committed his previous side Brentford were to this approach, with 63 per cent of their attacking throw-ins played into the penalty area last season.
Tottenham even conducted long-throw auditions in pre-season, and it was little surprise to see Danso launching missiles into the box early on.
While those throws caused plenty of chaos, it was a routine from Frank's free-kick playbook that produced the two goals.
Goalkeeper Vicario launched a diagonal towards Christian Romero on the left flank with his flick into the middle sparking a bout of pinball that ended with Van de Ven's rebounded finish. Romero then got on the scoresheet himself for the second, meeting another launched diagonal with a guided header.
At Brentford, Frank often stationed an imposing centre-back — such as Nathan Collins — out wide against a lighter full-back, and he has wasted no time bringing that tactic to his new charges.
After last season's abysmal domestic campaign, Spurs have plenty of areas to address. Set-pieces offer a quick and obvious win, and, like Danso with a throw-in, Frank is seizing the opportunity with both hands.
Conor O'Neill
Having reached the final of the Club World Cup in mid-July, PSG only returned for pre-season training last week. Judging from their performance tonight, it's clear they're not quite ready for the start of the new season.
In his first competitive start between the sticks for PSG, Lucas Chevalier found opportunities to demonstrate his skill as a ball-player as Spurs' forward line and midfield relentlessly pressed PSG's defence. Vitinha, who so often pulls the strings for the Champions League winners at the base of midfield, found time on the ball extremely difficult to come by as Pape Matar Sarr tracked his every move.
There were moments, particularly in the first half, that PSG were able to slice through Tottenham's wide defence with sharp passing combinations, but the Europa League champions were comfortably on top for most of the affair.
However, their late fightback to first get back on level terms through Lee Kang-In's thunderous strike from range before Goncalo Ramos converted a header in extra time demonstrates why they're considered among the favourites to lift the Champions League again this year.
Even after Vitinha missed the first penalty in the shootout, his team-mates displayed the composure of champions, and Chevalier proved his worth with an excellent save from Van de Ven.
Elias Burke
The fear going into this game — and this season — was that Spurs are short on quality now. Son Heung-min has gone. James Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski are both recovering from knee surgery. No wonder Spurs fans are so anxious for high-grade replacements at the end of the window.
But this game showed us that Spurs have more quality than we thought. And that while Spurs are short on big names right now, they have plenty of talented young players who Frank can turn into stars.
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Mohammed Kudus was electric on Spurs debut, never letting PSG rest, brilliant at keeping the ball under pressure. He did heroically to win the free-kick for Spurs' opener. Djed Spence, who has just agreed a new improved contract, was perfect at left wing-back, shutting down Hakimi all night. Pape Matar Sarr, the furthest forward of Spurs' three men in central midfield, grew into the game until he was radiating authority, driving Tottenham on and shutting his opponents.
Those were just three players but Richarlison, Pedro Porro and Joao Palhinha were all excellent, as were Romero and Van de Ven, the two world-class centre-backs who scored the goals. If the younger players can grow too then maybe there is enough star quality in this team after all.
It was only the turning of the game at the end that suggested that this squad could maybe still do with some more experience, just to help them to see out leads like the one they held for much of tonight's game.
Jack Pitt-Brooke
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We'll bring you this after the Tottenham Hotspur manager has spoken post-game
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