Lucas Bergvall speaks on Tottenham Hotspur’s defensive resoluteness in the 1-0 win over Villarreal in the Champions League
Tottenham Hotspur bagged their first Champions League win of the campaign with a 1-0 victory over Villarreal on Tuesday evening.
Spurs struggled to create clear-cut opportunities and test Villarreal goalkeeper Luiz Junior more often than the shot Pape Matar Sarr took in the first half. Funnily, it was Luis Junior’s catastrophic error that gifted the Thomas Frank-managed side a goal in the fourth minute and eventually the win.
It was Lucas Bergvall’s attempted cross which the Villarreal goalkeeper grabbed on the ground before spilling it into his own net, leaving their manager Marcelino in disbelief and the home crowd in jubilation in contrast. While it was important to open the Champions League campaign with all three points, there are concerns that Thomas Frank wants to iron out quickly.
Lucas Bergvall praises Villarreal’s grit in slender Tottenham victory
Villarreal headed to north London with the hope of stunning the hosts. The La Liga side were very well organised and disciplined defensively, compact in midfield and showed flashes of spark in attack. They pressed well and forced Tottenham players to make mistakes in and out of possession.
Had Junior not committed a blunder, the game could have gone on to end 0-0 and given the Yellow Submarine a deserved point at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. And Lucas Bergvall addressed how good Villarreal were on the night and the problems they created for Spurs. The midfielder also stated about his team’s “clean sheet mentality” as Spurs did not allow the visitors to have a shot on target.
“It was really tough. Villarreal did a great performance but a 1-0 win at home is amazing. We managed to get three points today and we talk a lot about ‘clean sheet mentality’ and they did not have a shot on target, so we did a really good job,” Bergvall told Amazon Prime (h/t BBC Sport).
Another clean sheet for Tottenham!
After last season’s persistent struggles in defensive organisation and reliability, Frank’s tactics has been a breath of fresh air. He has quickly made the team compact and disciplined, making Tottenham difficult to beat. The back four, along with the goalkeeper, have looked solid since the start of the season, while the midfield is not getting overrun and outworked like it happened almost in every game under Ange Postecoglou.
Spurs shutting out Villarreal means they have now kept four clean sheets in five games so far this season. Bergvall has touched on the developing “clean sheet mentality” within the squad, and if the Lilywhites were to progress to the knockout rounds and beyond in the Champions League, as well as compete in the domestic competitions, defensive stability is absolutely key.
It is good to see the players taking on Frank’s ideas and tactics on board and progressing as a team. This is just the start of Frank’s era at N17!
