LONDON -- It might look a relatively innocent fixture on paper, but deep down, Tottenham Hotspur manager Roberto De Zerbi's stomach will have dropped upon learning his side would open up the 2026-27 Premier League season away to Brentford.
Perhaps the Bees lack the star power of the Premier League's top sides, but they do provide the sort of tactical nightmare that, on paper, can defy the best. So it proved on the pitch at the Gtech Community Stadium as they hammered Spurs 3-0.
It's a chastening scoreline and it could easily have been worse. Igor Thiago pinged a second-half penalty off the post as the Bees buzzed about in the evening sun, looking fit and ready for the new season; in stark contrast, Spurs stumbled about, never once finding their footing.