HELLO FRIENDS
Welcome to our live coverage of Pacos de Ferreira against Tottenham Hotspur in the first leg of the Europa Conference League play-off.
Spurs are in Portugal for the start of a new European adventure in a new competition – and if the desire to be involved in this continental campaign isn’t what it normally is, the expectation to succeed will be as great ever.
The London club should be full of confidence after getting their Premier League season off to a flyer on Sunday with the 1-0 defeat of champions Manchester City.
However, none of the 11 players that started at the weekend have travelled to the Porto district which means a youthful side will be named by Nuno Espirito Santo.
There’s also no Harry Kane, which wouldn’t normally raise eyebrows for a tie such as this if it weren’t for the continuing transfer saga.
The striker returned to training last week after a summer linked with a move to Man City, and had been talked about as featuring tonight as part of his return to match fitness.
Yet any appearance in Europe for Spurs would make leave ineligible for Champions League football with the Citizens should Pep Guardiola finally get his man.
Nevertheless, both the Spurs fanbase and hierarchy will expect their club to go far in this inaugural season of the Europa Conference campaign, and rightly see it as a shot at finally landing some silverware.
They do have a challenging start, up against a Pacos de Ferreira side that finished fifth in Portugal’s Primeira Liga last term.
Jorge Simao’s men have made an indifferent start domestically this time around though, and were on the wrong side of a 3-0 scoreline at Boavista just 72 hours ago.
Kick-off at the Estadio Capital do Movel is at 7.30pm, and team news is on the way.
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