Memorable European Night

As a Bayern Munich fan, I am fully aware of the creative and surprising ways that Dortmund manage to blow games, but even I was surprised that they made it so easy for this beleaguered Spurs team to beat them. But in the midst of such a challenging season, we can't be too choosy about where or how our victories come about.

It wasn't all rosy, with some fresh injury concerns to deal with going forward, but it's still nice to have some silver linings in an otherwise tough month, form-wise. This was our first win of the calendar year on the Men's side. We also got to see a senior debut for one of the club's most promising youngsters, Jun'ai Byfield. And Dominic Solanke continued his return to play from a lengthy injury by celebrating a new milestone, his first Champions League goal.

In this issue: Dortmund recap | Transfer talk | News from around the Lane

I don't have a particularly good feeling about the positive vibes continuing once we get back to the domestic campaign this weekend, since we have the always-tricky away trip to Turf Moor to suffer through. Suffer is the keyword, since the injury crisis is still hampering us. At least we have Pape Sarr back from his success at AFCON.

Spurs Women are also in action this weekend, taking on bottom-of-the-table Liverpool. They've brought in some reinforcements since the last time we played, but so have we, and one of their new signings won't be able to play as she's on loan from Spurs (Martha Thomas). So, advantage to the Lilywhites. It is worth noting that Jennifer Falk and Denise O'Sullivan were both straight into the starting lineup in their FA Cup win over London Bees, with the latter scoring on her debut. Some of you may recognize the name Falk since Spurs were heavily linked to this goalkeeper last January before signing our now-beloved Lize Kop.

As the club noted this afternoon, we have never done the league double over Liverpool in the WSL, and although we've always kept games to within a one-goal margin, we have yet to earn more than a draw in the away fixture.

There's a handful of transfers to discuss this week, mostly of the outgoing loan variety, but also one incoming for Spurs Men.

Champions League MD 7 | Tottenham 2 - 0 Dortmund

Romero 14', Solanke 37'

This feels like a strange one to discuss because our European form has been such an outlier in the overall season, which has otherwise been an unmitigated disaster.

So, in the interest of time, I'm going to simply record a few of the highlights, lowlights, and takeaways from the game:

Highlights:

• Cristian Romero opened the scoring with his first Champions League goal of the season.
• Dortmund's Daniel Svensson was sent off with a straight red card in the 24th minute.
• Dominic Solanke scored his first goal of the season on just his sixth competitive appearance of 2025/26.
• Wilson Odobert made the assist on both goals.
• Jun'ai Byfield played nearly half an hour in his first senior appearance for the club.

Lowlights:

• Lucas Bergvall picked up a knock and limped through several more minutes of gametime before finally being substituted; we now have confirmation that he picked up an ankle sprain that required surgery, and his timeline for return is unclear.
• Pedro Porro, who had such a strong game overall that he earned the official Player of the Match award, nevertheless missed a big goal-scoring chance that would have killed off the game.
• Randal Kolo Muani had another very underwhelming substitute appearance.

Takeaways:

• This team still struggles to put together two good halves; we were just fortunate that the good half in this game was the first half, and that put the game firmly in Spurs' control.
• Archie Gray and Lucas Bergvall have looked like the most productive midfield pairing so far, and now we won't get to see that duo play together again for quite a while.
• Despite the injury pileup showing no signs of slowing down any time soon, Thomas Frank only made two substitutions and declined to give any of the other Academy players their club and Champions League debuts.

Notable & quotable:

• Cristian Romero now has five goals in all competitions.

• This was Romero's first Champions League goal for Spurs (he'd previously scored for Atalanta in the competition) and only his second CL goal in his career.

• Dominic Solanke made his first start of the season in any competition.

Even just starting the game was immense. That was my first start since last season, so to have that feeling again was incredible. To get the win, especially at home in front of the fans—they deserved that win. It was a great night for all of us.

• The win extends Spurs' unbeaten run in Europe to 24 games.

• While we have not clinched direct progression to the knockouts through a top eight finish, we have at last guaranteed we can go no lower than a playoff spot after next week's final league phase match.

• Our final opponent, Eintracht Frankfurt, have already been eliminated.

• Jun'ai Byfield credited Kevin Danso for helping make his first senior appearance a success, including a clean sheet:

Kevin Danso has been brilliant with me the whole time I’ve been with the first team. I just knew going into the game that he was going to help me, and he was really good with me tonight.

• Byfield became the youngest player to feature for Spurs in the Champions League.

Transfer talk

• On the Women's side:

• Anna Csiki has returned from her loan at West Ham United and could be sent on another loan before the window closes
• Kit Graham has gone on loan at Ipswich Town in the WSL2 for the remainder of the season. Ipswich are currently in last place in the second division by five points and would face the relegation playoff if they don't improve quickly.

• On the Men's side:

• Brazilian left fullback Souza has signed a long-term contract to join Spurs. At 19 years old and lacking experience in English football, he's likely to be apprenticing under Destiny Udogie for now—and possibly also Andy Robertson, if the rumors floating around today come to fruition.

It’s a really incredible feeling, a unique feeling, to join Spurs. It’s a childhood dream. It’s a really big club, a unique club. It’s a big challenge to play in the Premier League. It’s a different style of football, it’s different from the Brazilian style. There’s more possession of the ball, it’s different technically. It’s going to be a real challenge for me.

• From the Academy, Yusuf Akhamrich is going on his first senior loan with Bristol Rovers in League Two.

News from around the Lane

• Spurs Women Academy U19s have been knocked out of the PGA Cup after a 0-6 defeat to Arsenal. Head coach Sabiha Jamal did not mince words in sharing her disappointment at the cup exit:

The game was unacceptable. We know how competitive Arsenal can be at this level but, on the day, we just didn't compete with them in the 90 minutes, and that's why it's a disappointing way to exit the cup. Following the game, I’ve challenged the squad to reflect, individually and collectively, to react in the right way and make sure when we return to the league phase next week and put in the standards and levels we know this squad can produce.

Up next:

January 24 | Spurs Men @ Burnley
Team news — Xavi Simons is available despite picking up a knock against Dortmund; João Palhinha is questionable due to a training injury; all players who were ineligible for the Dortmund game because of suspension or not being registered are back in contention for Burnley

January 25 | Spurs Women @ Liverpool
Team news — Cathinka Tandberg and Olga Ahtinen are both available for selection; Charli Grant and the long-term injuries are all still out

It's two away fixtures this weekend, but at least we have the prospect of finally seeing Tinka Tandberg link up with her Norway teammate Signe Gaupset at Spurs.

If you're reading this from the mid-to-eastern part of the US, I hope you make it through the impending winter storm all right! Stay warm, and

COYS

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