Ben & Rob's preview - Pacos de Ferreira

Welcome back to our new feature for 2020/21 - Ben & Rob’s preview - where N17 Live host Ben Haines and Club commentator Rob Daly will give their views ahead of every match.

Following the fantastic opening day win against champions Manchester City in the Premier League on Sunday, we now step back onto the European trail with our journey in the new UEFA Europa Conference League starting at Portuguese Primeira Liga side Pacos de Ferreira in our play-off, first leg on Thursday evening (7.30pm UK).

Here’s what the guys had to say...

City reflections

Rob: “Sunday was possibly the best atmosphere I've experienced at the stadium. City in the Champions League was special as was the stadium opener against Crystal Palace, but the level of effort and quality in the performance against the champions, coupled with the joy from fans of being back at the football with friends and family, meant it was a stand-out day.”

Ben: “The best atmosphere since, possibly, the Champions League tie against City where we won 1-0, again with a very similar goalscorer! On top of that, there was just so much to unpack in terms of narrative and storylines, but the fact is it all just kind of went out of the window as soon as we heard that first roar from the crowd and what took over was everyone being so clearly overjoyed to be back supporting the boys - and it gave us the edge. I genuinely believe the crowd took us to another level at certain moments. Also... can we just all please acknowledge what an unbelievable performance that was from Japhet Tanganga?”

Next up - Pacos de Ferreira

Rob: “Pacos de Ferreira will press aggressively up the pitch and will catch Spurs out if they're too ponderous on the ball, as they did for a couple of goals in the previous round against Larne. They're without their first-choice goalkeeper Jordi who is injured for the season, but in attack they have Brazilian forwards Uilton, Denilson (who scored two against Larne) and Douglas Tanque (11 goals last season) who can hurt teams. Canadian international Stephan Eustaquio has an excellent long-range shot on him. However, expect Spurs to hurt them on the counter. Pacos were cut open by Boavista quite easily on Monday in a 3-0 loss. If Spurs to play to any level close to what we saw on Sunday, they'll score in Portugal.”

Ben: “I haven’t seen much at all of Pacos de Ferreira - and won’t for a moment claim to be an expert on the Primeira Liga! But, similarly to Rob, I’ve had a watch through of the highlights of their first two games - they played with a high line and were caught out twice by Boavista progressing the ball quickly after getting caught out in possession further forward. Given how we’ve played in pre-season you would hope stylistically that plays into our hands.”

European hopes

Rob: "Hopes should be to win it! Spurs are one of the favourites and given Nuno's experience in European competition and the way he managed a relatively-small Wolves squad through the Europa League to the semi-finals in 2019/20, I expect him to navigate domestic and continental obligations too. The club won the first UEFA Cup, so to be the first winners of the Europa Conference League wouldn't be bad!"

Ben: “Firstly to win it, secondly as an opportunity to get game time for some of our exciting youngsters who shone in pre-season. I’d love to see the likes of Dane Scarlett, Jack Clarke, Harvey White and Nile John continue the form they showed in July. On top of that, this is also a brilliant way for some of the players coming back after extended breaks or those just joining the club to get some minutes in the bank.”

Rob: “Yes to Nile John!”

Glory, glory nights...

Ben: “I have to give a slight disclaimer here... my earliest memories of Spurs in Europe involve us going out of the UEFA Cup to Kaiserslautern (1999)- so I’m very jealous of those who got to experience the glory, glory nights in the 1960’s 70’s and 80’s. Having said that, we’ve had some incredible nights in Europe over the last few years. So the best European memories for me, in this order:
1 - Spurs 4-4 City (2nd leg)
2 - Spurs 3-3 Ajax (2nd leg)
3 - Bale tearing Inter apart at WHL
4 - Beating Real Madrid at Wembley
5 - Super Jan v Borussia Dortmund - what a performance!

Rob: “I had that Bale night too, especially the goal where he whipped it in low for Peter Crouch, as well as the Wembley win over Real Madrid. Given I started working for the club in 2018/19, my favourite memories come from that run to the Champions League Final. The comeback against PSV, Lucas's late goal for the decisive draw at Barcelona, Jan Vertonghen's volley against Dortmund, Spurs going 2-1 up after 10 minutes at the Etihad thanks to Sonny's double and, of course, the Lucas Moura hat-trick in Amsterdam. I also have a lot of time for the Spurs’ all-white kit on European nights and hope to see plenty of that in N17 this season.”