Tottenham Hotspur celebrated its return to the UEFA Champions League with a 1-0 home victory over Spanish club Villarreal courtesy of an own goal by keeper Luiz Junior on Tuesday.
The London club’s first game in the competition for close to 1,000 days was only four minutes old when Villarreal’s Brazilian keeper fumbled a cross by Lucas Bergvall across his own line.
It was never comfortable for the host after that, though, with former Arsenal forward Nicolas Pepe having several chances, including a late free kick that flashed just wide of the post.
Tottenham’s defence, which has conceded only one goal so far this season in the Premier League, held firm, though, to allow Thomas Frank’s side to begin its group campaign with an important three points.
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It faces Norwegian side Bodo/Glimt away next while Villarreal hosts Juventus.
Qarabag stuns Benfica
Benfica let slip an early two-goal lead to lose 3-2 at home to Qarabag, with Oleksiy Kashchuk netting the Azerbaijani side’s winner four minutes from time.
The host looked in control when Enzo Barrenechea put it ahead in the sixth minute with a glancing header from a corner, and Vangelis Pavlidis shot on the turn to double the lead 10 minutes later.
Leandro Andrade smashed a first-time shot past keeper Anatoliy Trubin, however, and Qarabag came close to drawing level when Kady Borges hit the post and Trubin made an excellent save from Marko Jankovic’s follow-up effort.
Qarabag was level three minutes after the interval when Camilo Duran ran on to a defence-splitting pass from Marko Jankovic and smacked a first-time shot into the far corner, but the visitor was not done yet.
A long punt forward from the Qarabag keeper found Kashchuk just outside the area, and he played a one-two with Abdellah Zoubir before stroking a shot past Trubin to stun the Estadio da Luz.
Benfica, which reached the last 16 last season, travels to Chelsea on September 30, with Qarabag hosting FC Copenhagen the next day.
Published on Sep 17, 2025
