Tottenham to play opening Champions League home match at Wembley

Joe Wright

Tottenham to play opening Champions League home match at Wembley image

Tottenham have reached an agreement with UEFA that will allow them to play their first Champions League home group game of the season at Wembley.

The club confirmed last week they will need to play home Premier League matches at England's national stadium until at least October 6, with work on the revamped White Hart Lane taking longer than planned.

Spurs announced on Monday that they will play their first home fixture of their 2018-19 European campaign, either in the week commencing September 17 or October 1, at the same venue.

"We have agreed with UEFA that the first home matchday of this season's Champions League group stage, scheduled on either matchday one (week commencing September 17) or matchday two (week commencing October 1), will be staged at Wembley Stadium," a statement confirmed.

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"Both matchdays are due to take place between our two Premier League home fixtures against Liverpool (Saturday September 15) and Cardiff City (Saturday October 6), which we confirmed last week had been switched to Wembley.

"As a further update, should we be drawn at home in Round Three of the Carabao [EFL] Cup (week commencing September 24), then we can apply for special dispensation from the EFL board to reverse the fixture or play at a neutral venue as both our new stadium and Wembley are unavailable during this week."

Spurs initially played their European encounters at Wembley during the 2016-17 season after the original White Hart Lane saw its capacity restricted following the removal of a section of the stand in preparation for the overhaul.

They then played all home games at the national stadium last season, and had originally been expected to have moved into their new ground ahead of the 2018-19 campaign kick-off.

Instead however, they will remain tenants at Wembley for at least another six to seven weeks, with future fixtures, including a clash with champions Manchester City still undecided as to where they will be played.

Spurs played their first home game of the Premier League season against Fulham at Wembley on Saturday, winning 3-1, and next face Manchester United on August 27.

Joe Wright

Joe Wright Photo

Joe is a Senior Editor at Sporting News. He was previously a sub editor and writer for Goal.com before spending six years as part of the Stats Perform editorial news service, covering major global sports including football, tennis, boxing, NBA, rugby union and athletics. Joe has reported live on some of the biggest games in football, including two UEFA Champions League finals, Euro 2016, the Confederations Cup 2017 and the 2018 World Cup final at the end of a month in Russia.