Tottenham vs Marseille LIVE: Champions League result, final score and reaction as Richarlison double seals Spurs win
Tottenham 2-0 Marseille: Antonio Conte’s Spurs get the perfect start to their Champions League return thanks to Richarlison’s two headers
Richarlison’s first goals for Tottenham saw them mark their Champions League return with a 2-0 win over 10-man Marseille.
The summer signing scored two headers in the space of five second-half minutes to get Spurs out of trouble in their Group D opener.
Playing at the elite level for the first time since 2020, Antonio Conte’s men were labouring against the Ligue 1 side, who had Chancel Mbemba sent off early in the second half.
But Richarlison, making his Champions League debut, opened his account for the club in the 76th minute from Ivan Perisic’s cross and then repeated the trick to kill the game from a Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg delivery.
His double ensured Spurs got their campaign off to a winning start in an otherwise largely difficult round of action for British teams.
Relive the action as Spurs win their opening Champions League fixture:
Teams all warmed up
We’re about five minutes away from kick-off. Warm-ups complete and the teams are about to head on to the pitch
Harry Kane’s Champions League record
Harry Kane has been directly involved in 23 goals in his 24 appearances in the Champions League (20 goals, 3 assists).
Of all players to score 20+ UCL goals, only Erling Haaland (64), Mario Gomez (102) and Lionel Messi (103.7) have a better minutes-per-goal ratio than Kane (104.4).
Tottenham and Marseille head to head
This will be the first-ever competitive meeting between Tottenham Hotspur and Marseille, while Spurs have won four of their previous five home matches against French opposition in all European competition.
However, they lost their most recent such fixture in September 2016 (1-2 v Monaco in the Champions League).
Tottenham vs Marseille to kick off on time
Good news, in that the game will kick-off on time at 8pm BST.
Tottenham’s Champions League record
A couple of stats about Spurs in the Champions League - a mixed bag for the Londoners...
This will be Tottenham’s sixth season in the Champions League, and first since 2019-20 when they were eliminated by RB Leipzig in the round of 16. The Lilywhites have never previously faced any of their prospective 2022-23 group stage opponents in the UEFA Champions League before (Eintracht Frankfurt, Sporting CP and Marseille).
Spurs have won 44% of their matches in the Champions League (20/45), the lowest ratio of any English side with 20+ games played in the competition. In fact, 16 of those 20 wins have been recorded by a non-English manager in charge of the Lilywhites (Mauricio Pochettino x15, José Mourinho x1).
Marseille’s Champions League struggles
So what can the stats and facts tell us about this evening’s contest?
Well, Marseille have not made it past the Champions League group stage since 2011/12, losing 11 of their 12 subsequent pool matches, which bodes well for Spurs.
The French side have also won just one of their last 13 matches against English teams in the Champions League.
Marseille have now arrived at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
Our man on the ground at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Miguel Delaney, reported just before 7pm that Marseille hadn’t yet arrived at the ground - with a possibility that the game might be delayed.
As Miguel updates, the French side have now arrived but only around an hour before the 8pm kick-off rather than the prescribed 90 minutes. No word yet whether the KO will indeed be delayed.
Team news
For Spurs, Richarlison gets the nod over Dejan Kulusevski in the front three alongside Harry Kane and Son Heung-min, while Clement Lenglet keeps his place in the back three. Emerson Royal and Ivan Perisic the wing-backs.
An ex-Arsenal flavour to the Marseille team with Nuno Tavares and Matteo Guendouzi both in the side.
Tottenham XI: Lloris; Romero, Lenglet, Dier; Royal, Hojbjerg, Bentancur, Perisic; Richarlison, Kane, Son
Marseille XI: Lopez, Mbemba, Bailly, Gigot, Clauss, Rongier, Veretout, Tavares, Guendouzi, Suarez, Gerson
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