Italian media react to Emerson Royal display as ex-Tottenham Hotspur defender features in AC Milan Champions League defeat

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Tottenham Hotspur fans have to wait for European action this season but one recently-departed player struggled in Champions League action.

European action kicks off this week with the Champions League now underway with its new format in place.

Tottenham Hotspur are in Europa League action this season but have to wait until next Thursday, September 26, to kick off against Qarabag.

Ange Postecoglou will be taking that competition very seriously but must first deal with Coventry City in the EFL Cup on Wednesday night.

Postecoglou is adamant that he can win a trophy this season so progression in the EFL Cup and a strong Europa League start are paramount.

Tottenham fans may have seen one very familiar face in Champions League on Tuesday night though – and no, we aren’t talking about Harry Kane.

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Italian media on Emerson Royal

Kane scored five times in a stunning 9-2 win for Bayern Munich against Dinamo Zagreb.

The former Spurs striker continues to excel but Emerson Royal had a much different experience on night one of the Champions League.

Spurs sold the Emerson to AC Milan over the summer, bringing in around £15million for the full back in the process.

Emerson started on the bench as AC Milan faced Liverpool on Tuesday night but came on for Davide Calabria in the second half.

The Italian media aren’t exactly impressed with what they saw as Tuttomercatoweb rated Emerson at 5 out of 10.

“He gets practically everything wrong, bringing San Siro to exasperation. His entrance is the straw that breaks the camel’s back,” they wrote in a rather withering review.

Emerson even managed to pick up a booking late on with Sky Sports clamming him for a ‘very high boot’ on Darwin Nunez.

Emerson seemingly didn’t take his chance to shine against Liverpool and may find himself stuck on the Milan bench for a little longer yet.

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Spurs decision to sell Emerson looks correct

Emerson actually started last season in the Tottenham XI but found himself behind Pedro Porro for most of the campaign.

A hard worker who always gave his all, Emerson was popular around Tottenham but selling him was the right move.

Emerson wasn’t going to break past Porro any time soon and Spurs were right to cash in and allow him to try his luck elsewhere.

Tottenham didn’t bring in a replacement though, instead choosing to try and reintegrate Djed Spence.

That pretty much sums up that Tottenham were happy for Emerson to go and having so far failed to make an impact at AC Milan, Spurs seem to have made the correct call.