Tottenham Hotspur and Villarreal will aim to begin their 2025/26 UEFA Champions League campaign on a high when they face off in North London on Tuesday.

The UEFA Champions League returns after over three months, with the 2025/26 edition kicking off on Tuesday. The action on the day will start with two ties before ending with six simultaneous matches, including Tottenham Hotspur vs Villarreal at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Tottenham Hotspur qualified for the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League by winning the 2024/25 UEFA Europa League. That was the only way the North London outfit could have secured European football, as they finished only one spot above the relegation zone after a dreadful top-flight campaign which cost Ange Postecoglou his place in the managerial hot-seat.

Thomas Frank replaced Postecoglou in the summer, and the Lilywhites began their 2025/26 campaign with a fighting defeat to Paris Saint-Germain in the UEFA Super Cup. However, the progress has been visible in the Premier League, with Tottenham sitting third in the standings after amassing nine points in four games, thanks in part to an impressive victory over Manchester City.

On the other hand, Villarreal reached the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League by finishing fifth in the 2024/25 La Liga standings. England and Spain had an additional qualification berth from the league, helping the Yellow Submarine return to Europe’s premier club competition.

Marcelino Garcia Toral’s men have been solid thus far in the 2025/26 La Liga season. However, they come into Matchday 1 of the latest Champions League edition on the back of a 2-0 defeat to Atletico Madrid this past weekend. That result dropped them from third to fifth on the table.

Tuesday’s UEFA Champions League clash will be the first-ever match featuring Tottenham Hotspur and Villarreal, and The Hard Tackle looks closer at the encounter ahead of the maiden meeting between the two sides.

Team News & Tactics

Tottenham Hotspur

Thomas Frank has no new injury concerns hampering his preparations ahead of his side’s latest fixture. The Tottenham Hotspur manager will be bereft of the services of six first-team players vs Villarreal on Tuesday.

James Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski are the most notable absentees due to their long-term knee injuries. The duo accompanies Kota Takai (foot), Radu Dragusin (knee), and Dominic Solanke (ankle) on the sidelines. Meanwhile, Yves Bissouma will unlikely feature for Tottenham in the first half of the 2025/26 season.

Guglielmo Vicario is an automatic pick between the sticks, with Tottenham Hotspur lining up in a 4-3-3 formation in front of him vs Villarreal on Tuesday. The backline will feature Pedro Porro, Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven, and Destiny Udogie.

As for the midfield unit, Rodrigo Bentancur should get an opportunity, lining up alongside Joao Palhinha and Lucas Bergvall from the get-go. Finally, Richarlison will lead the line for Tottenham against Villarreal, with Mohammed Kudus and Xavi Simons completing the numbers in the offensive third.

Probable Lineup (4-3-3): Vicario; Porro, Romero, van de Ven, Udogie; Bentancur, Palhinha, Bergvall; Kudus, Richarlison, Simons

Villarreal

Like his counterpart in the Tottenham Hotspur dugout, Marcelino Garcia Toral has no new issues to worry about ahead of the trip to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. The Villarreal manager may be without four first-team players on Tuesday.

Marcelino is sweating over Gerard Moreno’s fitness, with the Spanish striker struggling with a hamstring injury. Meanwhile, Willy Kambwala is unavailable for the foreseeable future due to a thigh issue, while Logan Costa and Pau Cabanes are long-term absentees, as they are dealing with ACL ruptures.

Luiz Junior will take his spot between the sticks, with Villarreal lining up in a 4-4-2 formation in front of him vs Tottenham Hotspur on Tuesday. The backline will feature Santiago Mourino, Juan Foyth, Renato Veiga, and Sergi Cardona.

As for the midfield unit, the in-form Nicolas Pepe and Alberto Moleiro will line up on the flanks, looking to provide width and creativity from the wings. Pape Gueye and Dani Parejo should pair up in the middle of the park and protect the centre-backs. Finally, Georges Mikautadze and Ayoze Perez will be the two strikers for the away side.

Probable Lineup (4-4-2): Junior; Mourino, Foyth, Veiga, Cardona; Pepe, Gueye, Parejo, Moleiro; Perez, Mikautadze

Key Stats

• Tuesday’s match will be the first meeting between Tottenham Hotspur and Villarreal in European competition. The Lilywhites have won only one of their last 13 matches against Spanish opposition in major European competition (D5 L7). On the other hand, the Yellow Submarine’s 14 ties with English clubs have yet to yield a victory (D6 L8).
• Tottenham have only won their opening game of a European Cup/UEFA Champions League campaign in two of their seven attempts (D2 L3). However, those two have arrived on the most recent occasions when they have played their opener at home: 2-0 vs Marseille in 2022/23 and 3-1 vs Borussia Dortmund in 2017/18.
• Villarreal’s last match in the UEFA Champions League came in the 2021/22 semi-finals, where they lost 2-5 on aggregate to Liverpool. The Yellow Submarine won three of six away games in that campaign (D1 L2), more than they managed in 14 ties on the road across three previous appearances in this competition (W2 D5 L7).
• Thomas Frank will take charge of a team in the UEFA Champions League for the first time. His only previous experience of managing in European competition came in qualifying for the UEFA Europa League, winning just three of 10 matches with Brondby IF (D4 L3).
• Georges Mikautadze has been directly involved in seven goals in eight starts in major European competition to date (G4 A3), with each coming for Lyon in the UEFA Europa League last season.

Player to Watch

Richarlison

Embed from Getty Images

While Xavi Simons, Georges Mikautadze, and Ayoze Perez were viable candidates for this section, we have picked Richarlison as the Player to Watch for Tuesday’s UEFA Champions League clash between Tottenham Hotspur and Villarreal at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

The Brazilian international is the only player in the Tottenham squad to have scored more than one goal for the North London club in the UEFA Champions League. With Harry Kane and Son Heung-min doing the heavy lifting in Europe’s premier club competition for Tottenham, the onus is now on Richarlison to deliver the goods after an excellent start to the 2025/26 season.

Prediction

Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 Villarreal

Tottenham may have been slow off the blocks in the two most recent outings, but Saturday’s outing against West Ham United showcased Thomas Frank’s ability to manage in-game shuffles expertly. On the other hand, Villarreal’s performances against English clubs have not been convincing enough.

However, the hosts have shown a soft underbelly despite keeping three clean sheets in their last four games. So, Villarreal may exploit that weakness, with Georges Mikautadze showcasing his European pedigree again. However, Richarlison and Xavi Simons will deliver the goods for the home side, and The Hard Tackle predicts a 2-1 win for Thomas Frank and his charges.