Spurs' return has a familiar feel as revived Marseille look to Premier League cast-offs

EUROPEAN nights at Tottenham are generally special, and their return to the Champions League tonight should have the added feel of a local derby.

- Dan Kilpatrick

Spurs' first opponents in the competition since March 2020 are French side Marseille, whose squad is packed with players associated with the red half of north London.

Alexis Sanchez, Marseille's most celebrated former Arsenal player, is suspended tonight, but among the antagonists Spurs fans will have to remember to boo are Nuno Tavares, Matteo Guendouzi and Sead Kolasinac, as well as former West Ham forward Dimitry Payet.

Igor Tudor's cast of Premier League misfits also includes on loan Manchester United defender Eric Bailly and Jordan Veretout and Chancel Mbemba, formerly of Aston Villa and Newcastle, respectively.

If there is a theme to Tudor's group, it is one of talented but unpredictable mavericks who have found a home at a club where chaos often reigns.

Over the summer, Marseille head coach Jorge Sampaoli walked out, supposedly frustrated by the club's transfer activity, and was replaced by the Croatian, a disciplinarian who was a team-mate of Antonio Conte at Juventus.

A switch to a back-three, which will match Conte's system, and a new playing style has caused little disruption and, like Spurs, Marseille are unbeaten at the start of the season, with only Paris Saint-Germain's superior goal difference keeping them from the top of Ligue 1.