Tottenham held their own against ´best in the world´ PSG, says Frank

Thomas Frank believed Tottenham more than held their own against a Paris Saint-Germain side he described as “one of the best teams in the world” in the UEFA Super Cup.

Frank watched on as Spurs squandered a two-goal lead in normal time to draw 2-2 and the penalty shootout to lose 4-3 on spot-kicks at Bluenergy Stadium on Wednesday.

The Dane looked on course to clinch silverware in his first competitive game in charge of Spurs after goals either side of half-time from Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero.

However, quickfire goals from PSG substitutes Lee Kang-In and Goncalo Ramos completed the late turnaround, though Vitinha missed the Parisiens’ first penalty.

Rodrigo Bentancur gave Spurs a two-goal advantage, but Van de Ven saw his effort from 12 yards repelled by debutant Lucas Chevalier before Mathys Tel fired wide of the mark.

That allowed Nuno Mendes to step up and smash home the winning penalty, handing Luis Enrique’s side their first Super Cup triumph, but Tottenham more than played their part.

Spurs ended the contest with an expected goals (xG) total of 1.4 from their 13 shots compared to PSG’s 1.2 from their 12 attempts at Guglielmo Vicario’s goal.

And while disappointed with the result, Frank was keen to take the positives from the display ahead of their opening game of the Premier League against Burnley on Saturday.

“I think we played a very good game against one of the best teams in the world, maybe the best at this moment in time,” Frank told TNT Sports.

“We had them exactly where we wanted them for 80-something minutes until the 2-1 goal, then, of course, the momentum shifted a little bit.

“The team, the players, the club, the fans, there is a lot to be happy with. It is a flip of the coin when you go to a penalty shootout.

“We showed that we can be adaptable and pragmatic, and we needed to be against a team like PSG.

“The way we wanted to defend, high pressure and low defending, was top, almost perfect, and also the set pieces were very good and dangerous.”

Frank also hinted that Spurs are expected to make more signings before the summer transfer window slams shut on September 1.

Tottenham have welcomed six new faces to north London, with Mohammed Kudus and Joao Palhinha starting the Super Cup clash against PSG.

Kevin Danso, who spent last year on loan with Spurs before making his move permanent, also featured from the off, with Tel entering the action from the bench.

Tottenham have been linked with a move for Crystal Palace’s Eberechi Eze in recent weeks, and Frank revealed that while happy with his squad, he was keen to strengthen.

“We’d like to strengthen the squad. No doubt about that,” Frank added. “We do work very hard to see if we can do that.

“In general, I am very happy with the squad, but in any transfer window, we try to see if we can make the squad stronger before the window closes.”