Outside of matches between the teams, there are plenty of connections between us and most of our opponents in this season’s UEFA Champions League.
Thursday’s draw handed us home ties with Borussia Dortmund, Villarreal, Slavia Prague and Copenhagen, along with trips to holders Paris Saint-Germain, Eintracht Frankfurt, Bodo/Glimt and AS Monaco.
While we’ve faced all eight teams in one capacity or another over the years, including six of them competitively, we share a number of links in terms of playing personnel.
Eric Dier’s name immediately comes to mind with Monaco – he’s currently plying his trade for the Ligue 1 side after 18 months at Bayern Munich. Glenn Hoddle, Emmanuel Adebayor, Eidur Gudjohnson, Dimitar Berbatov and Nacer Chadli have also worn their colours.
One of our current first teamers will be reunited with his former employers when we host Slavia Prague – Antonin Kinsky joined us from his hometown club back in January. Our former goalkeeper Radek Cerny coached ‘Toni’ at Slavia for a spell and also represented them during his playing career.
Antonin Kinsky in goal for Slavia Prague last season
Antonin Kinsky in goal for Slavia Prague last season
Eric Dier celebrates a goal for Monaco earlier this month
Eric Dier celebrates a goal for Monaco earlier this month
We’ve shared a couple of players with both Villarreal and PSG – right-back Serge Aurier and midfielder Giovani Lo Celso represented both clubs in addition to being team-mates in our colours. Others who represented Villarreal include Giovani dos Santos, Etienne Capoue and Roberto Soladado, while a player synonymous with Spurs and the Champions League – Lucas Moura – also played for PSG, as did Benjamin Stambouli and Stephane Dalmat.
Kevin-Prince Boateng also has significant interest in our league stage fixtures, having represented both Eintracht Frankfurt and Borussia Dortmund in addition to Spurs. Others to have worn Dortmund’s colours include Steffen Freund, Ivan Perisic, Lee Young-pyo and Steven Pienaar.
Serge Aurier and Lucas Moura celebrate winning the French League Cup with PSG in 2017
Serge Aurier and Lucas Moura celebrate winning the French League Cup with PSG in 2017
Stephane Dalmat during his PSG days
Stephane Dalmat during his PSG days
A young Ivan Perisic up against fellow future Spur Christian Eriksen while playing for Borussia Dortmund in 2012
A young Ivan Perisic up against fellow future Spur Christian Eriksen while playing for Borussia Dortmund in 2012
Our League Cup-winning hero Allan Nielsen, meanwhile, played for Copenhagen between 1994 and 1995, captaining the side.
As we already know from our memorable Europa League semi-final meeting with Bodo/Glimt last season, we have never shared any players with the Norwegian outfit.