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Five things we learned from Tottenham's victory over Juventus at Wembley

Harry Kane celebrates
Harry Kane celebrates

1. Supporters stay away

Tottenham’s fans baulked at the price of the tickets the moment this fixture was announced and it was revealed they would have to fork out between £24 and £92 for seats.

Those prices were not set by Spurs. The match was organised by promoters Relevent Sports, who massively overestimated the novelty factor of watching Mauricio Pochettino’s side face European opposition at Wembley.

For starters, the Lilywhites will be playing all of their home matches at the national stadium this season. Secondly, they will be in the Champions League again.

The number of Tottenham season ticket-holders has now increased to 40,000 and they will be watching Premier League action against Chelsea in a fortnight’s time.

Juventus may have contested the Champions League final in May but there was understandably little appetite to pay over the odds to watch a friendly.

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Rarely will Wembley have looked so sparsely occupied – the top two tiers were entirely empty – and the official attendance was never announced. It was probably between 20,000 and 30,000, in a 90,000-seater arena.

A dress rehearsal this was not. The stadium will look and feel very different when Spurs are next in Brent.

2. Kieran Trippier sets up a goal but is injured one week before the big kick-off

Given Kyle Walker’s departure and the fact Tottenham are yet to replace him, there was early concern when Trippier hurt his knee in a challenge with Alex Sandro, staying down and receiving treatment – and there was relief when he continued playing with no obvious ill-effects.

Trippier promptly underlined his crossing ability and showed why he is likely to remain the first-choice right-back this season, putting the ball on a plate when Harry Kane headed home to give the Lilywhites an early lead.

The 26-year-old did well at the other end too, particularly when he got a vital touch on a cross to the back post and denied Juventus a header on goal.

It was therefore a serious blow when Trippier suffered another bang on his leg before half time and was this time unable to carry on.

With just eight days to go before Tottenham kick off their Premier League campaign, they are now missing both of season’s right-backs.

Twenty-year-old Kyle Walker-Peters replaced Trippier on this occasion but looked a little hesitant and timid again, and Pochettino may well turn to the versatile Eric Dier instead at Newcastle.

3. Moussa Sissoko stakes his claim for a spot against his former club

The £30million Frenchman’s future has been uncertain and Trabzonspor’s chairman has expressed an interest in signing him on loan.

But Pochettino has stated that Sissoko, who missed Spurs’ tour of the USA and consequently all three of the previous friendlies, is still in his plans – and he backed up that assertion by picking him in his starting line-up against Juventus.

It has to be said that Tottenham’s manager was short of other options – Georges-Kevin Nkoudou has joined Erik Lamela and Heung-Min Son in the treatment room after getting a knock on his foot.

But it still made sense for Pochettino to give Sissoko some game time, offering him the chance to build up some of the match fitness and practice that he missed when his team-mates were facing Paris St Germain, Roma and Manchester City on the other side of the Atlantic.

What followed was an encouraging performance. Sissoko worked hard, played his part in passing moves and caused problems when running in behind.

While it was a very simple ball, it was he who gave the ball to Trippier for Spurs’ opening goal, and he went on to hit the post before the break. Attacking from the left side, he bent the ball around Gianluigi Buffon and seemed to have found the net, only to see the ball bounce off the inside of the right stick.

Sissoko has seemed one of the likeliest players to depart this summer, and yet he is now in the frame for a starting berth when Spurs visit his former club Newcastle next Sunday.

Was this one of his final appearances for the club or the start of a turnaround in his Tottenham career? We will see.

4. Spurs go into the campaign with confidence

Spurs’ results in the USA were mixed – a 4-2 victory against 10-man PSG, a 3-2 loss in a breathless finale against Roma and then a chastening 3-0 defeat against Manchester City.

That loss to City caused understandable concern but there were mitigating factors – particularly the heat, and the fact Pochettino had been prioritising fitness work in his training sessions in the States, rather than the friendly results. He had worked his players hard on the day before the match against Pep Guardiola’s outfit.

Today, at Wembley, Spurs looked more like themselves. After Kane’s early opener, Christian Eriksen made it 2-0 in the second half after a neat through ball from Dele Alli, while Hugo Lloris made three excellent saves to keep a clean sheet.

This 2-0 victory against a strong Juventus line-up should banish some of the worries that followed last weekend’s limp loss in Nashville.

It is foolish to read too much into pre-season results, but this should at least help to generate a feelgood factor in the squad and an excitement among the supporters as the big kick-off approaches.

The main disappointment last term was Spurs’ inability to make an impact in Europe – particularly the Champions League – while one of the great unknowns about the coming campaign is how their home form will be affected by being at Wembley. Today’s performance and result provided encouragement on both fronts.

5. Weak bench underlines the need for more strength in depth

Tottenham were missing a number of players at Wembley this evening – Victor Wanyama, Danny Rose, Son, Lamela and Nkoudou – and that hardly helped the picture.

Nonetheless, the bench still looked weak. Michel Vorm, Kevin Wimmer, Harry Winks and Vincent Janssen were the only senior reserves, while Walker-Peters and Cameron Carter-Vickers were among seven youngsters out of the 11 reserves.

Spurs will look stronger when everyone is available but it is clear they need to boost their squad to guard against ill-timed injuries during the season itself.

Signings are surely on the way, but how many, and when?

Follow me on Twitter @BenPearceSpurs and visit my Facebook page at www.facebook.com/BenPearceSpurs/