Spanish media’s verdict on Villarreal’s ‘undeserved defeat’ vs Tottenham as Xavi Simons decision criticised

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The Spanish press believe Villarreal were hard done by in their defeat to Tottenham Hotspur on Tuesday night.

The La Liga outfit travelled to north London for their first Champions League outing, losing 1-0 thanks to an early Lucas Bergvall goal on his debut in the competition. Micky van de Ven earned high praise from Alan Shearer as he and the rest of Spurs’ backline held on to all three points after second half pressure from the visitors.

Villarreal huffed and puffed, but to no avail, with both sides only managing one shot on target each. Tottenham’s goal coming from a mistake by goalkeeper Luiz Junior summed up a frustrating evening in attack for both clubs.

Spanish outlet Marca thinks Marcelino Garcia Toral’s side deserved more from the clash, and they also took issue with Xavi Simons and Van de Ven avoiding red cards, too.

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Tottenham Hotspur ‘were no better’ than Villarreal, say Marca

Marca’s match report on the clash said: “Villarreal kicked off this Champions League campaign with a painful and undeserved defeat.

“They lost to Tottenham, who were no better and found themselves with a goal in the 4th minute without a shot on target, after a mistake by their goalkeeper Luiz Junior.”

The outlet also noted Villarreal’s opportunities to equalise, including Van de Ven’s challenge resulting in a free kick, only for the Spanish club to put the ball well wide of Spurs’ goal.

Marca also pointed out the frustration with him and Simons not picking up a second yellow.

Spanish media criticise referee Rade Obrenovic for Xavi Simons and Micky van de Ven decisions

They wrote: “Referee Obrenovic did not do any favors either, forgiving Xavi Simons a second yellow card and also a red card to Van de Ven, who in the final minutes brought down Mikautadze outside the area, when he was already facing [Guglielmo] Vicario.”

Simons only picked up a yellow after being judged to have hauled Georges Mikautadze down before being taken off.

Van de Ven, meanwhile, conceded a free kick – with fans inside the stadium initially fearing he may have conceded a penalty with the challenge coming just outside the box.

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Both stars avoided picking up a ban in the end and will no doubt feature for Spurs again next time out in Europe’s top flight. They face Bodo/Glimt next.