Thomas Frank’s Tottenham reign was within touching distance of its first piece of silverware, only for Paris Saint-Germain to rip it away in the final moments and twist the knife on penalties. The North Londoners were cruising with an 80-minute stranglehold over their star-laden French rivals in the Super Cup final, but a late implosion saw dreams turn to dust.
Spurs blew a two-goal lead against PSGFrank hailed a dominant 80-minute performanceBurnley clash comes just three days laterFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?
In Udine, Spurs looked like a side reborn under Frank. Micky van de Ven’s opener and Cristian Romero’s thumping header put them two clear and on course for a statement victory to kickstart the Dane's era. For almost the entire night, the Parisians, dripping with attacking firepower, were shackled. The plan was working to perfection: disciplined defending, aggressive pressing, and lethal set-pieces.
AdvertisementAFPTHE BIGGER PICTURE
However, in the final quarter, Tottenham succumbed. Lee Kang-in halved the deficit with ten minutes left, and Goncalo Ramos landed the sucker punch in the dying stages. From that moment, the psychological tide turned, and PSG were merciless in the shootout.
WHAT FRANK SAID
Frank, visibly pained yet proud, admitted they had the game in their grip before it all unravelled.
"I think we played a very good game against one of the best teams in the world, maybe the best," Frank told "We had them exactly where we wanted them for 80-somethimg minutes until 2-1. Then it shifted the momentum but I'm so proud of the team, players, club and fans. We showed we can be adaptable and pragmatic.
"We needed to be that against a team like PSG, with the way we wanted to defend with both high pressure and a low block. The first half was almost perfect and the set-pieces were very dangerous. In one game, I think we have shown we can play against any team in the world. I'm not in doubt about that and that's a positive to take away from this."
DID YOU KNOW?
Spurs’ attacking edge came from the training pitch. Frank had sent his players through an intense warm-up focusing almost entirely on dead-ball situations, and it paid off spectacularly with both goals.
“It was a special operation,” he explained. “In medical terms, the operation succeeded but the patient died, so not that good in the end. But we worked on a game plan that was a little bit different and very close to succeeding.”