Tottenham let slip a two-goal lead as late PSG strikes sent European football’s season opener to penalties in Italy.
Paris Saint-Germain beat Tottenham 4-3 on penalties to win the UEFA Super Cup, completing a remarkable rally after scoring two late goals to take the match to a shootout.
It secured the fifth trophy of 2025 for the French club.
Lee Kang-in scored in the 85th for PSG, and fellow substitute Goncalo Ramos grabbed an equaliser in the fourth minute of stoppage time to make it 2-2 in regulation.
Nuno Mendes converted the clinching penalty in the shootout for PSG.
“I am proud. We haven’t [had] much preparation, but you could see that football is not only about the physical aspect – it is also about the mental aspect, being in the right place, having the right tactics,” PSG captain Marquinhos told broadcaster Canal Plus.
“They sat back a lot after going 2-0 up, and it is dangerous to invite PSG to come at you like that.”
The Super Cup is an annual early-season match between the most recent winners of the Champions League (PSG) and Europa League (Tottenham), and it was hardly going to script when the English club took a 2-0 lead early in the second half.
Defenders popped up with Spurs’ goals, with Micky van de Ven showing quick reactions to prod home the opener in the 39th minute after new PSG goalkeeper Lucas Chevalier tipped Joao Palhinha’s shot onto the crossbar.
Chevalier – playing ahead of Gianluigi Donnarumma, who announced Tuesday he was leaving PSG – might have been unlucky with the first goal but was to blame for the second after failing to keep out a header from newly appointed Tottenham captain Cristian Romero in the 48th.
Tottenham is further along in its preparations for the new campaign than PSG, whose players have only just returned to training after being involved in the Club World Cup until mid-July, and looked much sharper at Stadio Friuli.
PSG finished strongly, though, and hit Tottenham with late goals as Lee smashed in a low shot from the edge of the area and Ramos headed home Ousmane Dembele’s right-wing cross.
In the shootout, Vitinha missed PSG’s first attempt, but the French team then converted four in a row. Van de Ven and Mathys Tel failed to score for Tottenham, whose manager, Thomas Frank, was taking charge of his first competitive match with the Premier League team.
Frank took over in the offseason following the firing of Ange Postecoglou, who led Tottenham to its first trophy in 17 years with a victory over Manchester United in the Europa League final in May.
“I think we played a very good game against one of the best teams in the world – maybe the best in this moment in time,” Frank told TNT Sports.
“I think we had them exactly where we wanted them for 80-something minutes until the 2-1 goal. Then, of course, that shifted a little bit the momentum, but there was so much positive.
“I am so proud of the team, the players, the club, the fans. I think there is a lot to be happy with. It is a flip of a coin when you go into a penalty shootout.”
PSG completed the Champions League-Ligue 1-Coupe de France treble last season, also winning the Trophee des Champions in January. The team lost the Club World Cup final to Chelsea.