Tottenham boss Thomas Frank has just one objective vs Paris Saint-Germain in the UEFA Super Cup
Tottenham Hotspur have the opportunity to add more European silverware to their trophy cabinet as they take on Paris Saint-Germain in the UEFA Super Cup on Wednesday evening in the Bluenergy Stadium, Italy.
Spurs claimed a memorable victory in the Europa League final in May, beating Premier League rivals Manchester United 1-0 at San Mames Stadium in Bilbao under former head coach Ange Postecoglou. However, the Europa League success was not enough for Postecoglou to keep his job as a horrendous Premier League season saw Daniel Levy sack him in June.
Thomas Frank is now at the helm, having arrived at N17 from cross-town rivals Brentford after six successful seasons. He is now tasked with bringing sustained success to the North London club, although his first competitive game as their boss sees Tottenham square up against Paris Saint-Germain, who smashed Inter Milan 5-0 in the Champions League final.
Tottenham boss underlines only one objective vs Paris Saint-Germain
Spurs were battered and bruised 4-0 by Bayern Munich in their final pre-season friendly in Germany last week. It was not the ideal preparation for Thomas Frank and Co. ahead of such a big game and, of course, the new season.
Given the overall quality of the PSG squad and how they dominated the Champions League final against Inter Milan, Tottenham fans will be a bit worried heading into the game in Udine. However, Frank has insisted that Tottenham will be going to Italy looking to win the European trophy.
“We’re playing in a final; it’s fantastic. Hopefully we can use some of the experience we have from the last final that the team played against Manchester United. [Paris] are the best team in Europe. They won the treble and it looks like they are extremely strong in all 11 starting positions,” Frank told UEFA.com in an exclusive interview.
“It’s a fantastic challenge to have in the first game but, of course, we believe in ourselves. We’re going to a final and there will be one objective – try to win it. We don’t see it as a test; we see it as two good teams against each other, and we want to win.”
Spurs can stun PSG
PSG are overwhelming favourites on paper heading into the UEFA Super Cup. But they were also billed as favourites in the Club World Cup final when they faced Chelsea in July, and we all know what happened in the game.
Similarly, Spurs certainly have a chance to beat Luis Enrique’s side. Unlike Postecoglou’s rigid approach, Frank is a flexible manager and he would dare throw caution to the wind against a dangerous PSG side. We expect the Dane to set up his team in a manner that frustrates the Parisian side as much as possible and play a more conservative style of football in Italy.
A win against the odds at the Bluenergy Stadium would not only give the Lilywhites their second European trophy in the matter of just four months, but also hand Frank his first ever trophy in his career. He has a great opportunity to script history in midweek.
