Advertisement

Tottenham could use two venues for their Champions League home games next season

PA
PA

Tottenham have the option to play any number of next season’s Champions League group games at Wembley if their new stadium is not ready in time for the start of the competition.

The club could return to the national stadium as one of a number of contingencies if the construction of their new 61,500-seater home overruns.

While they would need permission from the Premier League to host top-flight fixtures in two different stadiums in the same season, Uefa has no hard and fast rules about playing every European match at the same venue.

Spurs have held talks with the European governing body about playing one, two or all three group matches at Wembley before then moving to their yet-to-be-named new stadium if they qualify for the Champions League or Europa League knockouts.

Clubs have until 5 June to submit official entry documents to Uefa, including a stadium safety certificate issued by the Football Association. However, Spurs should be able to submit the stadium documents to Uefa at a later date and they could yet open the ground with a Champions League game.

They are considering beginning next season with a run of four away matches in the league, but Uefa cannot guarantee Spurs an away start or allow them to reverse a fixture with an opponent. The first Champions League group games take place on 18-19 September, following four rounds of Premier League matches.

Spurs have nothing to fear from Champions League nights at Wembley after selling out the stadium for the scintillating 3-1 win over European champions Real Madrid in November.

They also beat Borussia Dortmund and Apoel Nicosia at home, finishing top of the group with more points than any of the 32 teams in the competition, before losing 4-3 on aggregate to Juventus in the last 16.

If Spurs do opt to spend the group stage at Wembley, it would be the third season running they have played Champions League games at the national stadium.

In 2016-17, the club’s European matches were held at Wembley because White Hart Lane was in breach of Uefa regulations after the removal of 4,000 seats in the north-east corner.

Spurs sold a ‘Group Stage Multi-Game Ticket’ for the matches against AS Monaco, Bayer Leverkusen and CSKA Moscow that campaign — an option they could revisit if they also spend next season’s group stage at Wembley.

Meanwhile, Spurs teenager Keanan Bennetts has joined the exodus of England youth internationals moving to Germany. The 19-year-old, a powerful winger, has swapped north London for Borussia Monchengladbach for £2m.