(Credit: Imago)

Oliver Walton

Thu 14 August 2025 7:30, UK

Tottenham lost the UEFA Super Cup on penalties against PSG as Thomas Frank’s competitive debut as Spurs boss ended with a loss in Udine.

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Spurs were unfancied by many heading into the tie, but they had the bulk of the chances in the early stages and soon found the breakthrough as Micky Van de Ven fired home a loose ball just before half-time.

Cristian Romero doubled Tottenham’s lead with a headed effort just after the interval, but the North London outfit soon let their advantage slip as Lee Kang-in and Goncalo Ramos both struck late on to send the tie to penalties.

Vitinha handed Spurs the advantage as he missed PSG’s first spot-kick, but further misses from Micky Van de Ven and Mathys Tel put it into the French side’s hands, and Nuno Mendes soon stepped up to win it 4-3 and complete an almighty comeback for his side.

Spurs just came unstuck right at the end as PSG’s quality prevailed, and as with every game, certain players put a shift in while some failed to impress, so here are three winners and three losers as Frank’s side tasted defeat in Udine.

Richarlison has been mooted with a move away from Spurs this summer, but Frank will be thinking twice about potentially selling him anytime soon based on this showing.

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The Brazilian international worked tirelessly all night against a strong PSG backline, as he barely gave them a chance to breathe when they had the ball and then was dangerous when he had it at his own feet, despite still not quite having the end product to match.

(Credit Imago)

Romero was named as Spurs’ new club captain prior to their first competitive outing since Son Heung-min’s departure, and he backed that decision up with a fantastic performance against PSG all-round.

His header for the second probably should have been saved by Lucas Chevalier, but it was a deserved goal all the same, and he was an absolute rock at the back all night as he ended the clash with four headed clearances, two out of two ground duels won and two out of three aerial duels won [Fotmob].

Spence lined up on the left of a back-five in Udine rather than on his favoured right due to Spurs’ other injury concerns, but he rarely put a foot wrong all game and had the numbers of Kvicha Kvaratskhelia and Achraf Hakimi throughout, which is no mean feat.

He will feel somewhat disappointed not to have stopped Ousmane Dembele’s cross in the lead up to PSG’s equaliser, yet that was a small letdown in an otherwise outstanding performance as he looks to thrust his way into Thomas Tuchel’s England plans this season.

(Credit Imago)

Tel’s cameo was nightmarish, to say the least, as he almost immediately conceded a free-kick in a dangerous area and then went on to miss the target with his penalty to put PSG into the ascendancy on the night.

The young Frenchman is still learning on the job at his age, but it will be Thomas Frank who has learnt the most about his application and bottle here as Tel committed two fouls, did not complete a dribble from three attempts and had just eight touches in his 17-minute appearance, according to Fotmob.

Solanke’s showing was night and day compared to that of Richarlison’s, as he seemed to exert much less energy than his Brazilian teammate when Tottenham arguably needed it most as they tried to hold onto their lead in the dying embers of the game.

The England striker did dispatch his penalty well in the shootout, but had he tried a bit more in the actual game then it may not have even got to that point, and he finished his 24-minute appearance with just five touches of the ball and no accurate passes completed [Fotmob].

(Credit Imago)

Danso’s performance was not one that Spurs fans are used to seeing from him, as he understandably struggled to cope with the speed and trickery of Bradley Barcola throughout.

His long-throw was a decent weapon at times, yet rarely ever actually created a chance, and he was one of just two Spurs players that were booked on the night as he tried to time-waste to no avail.

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