AS Roma centre-back Mats Hummels explains why he loves watching Spurs and admits that some of his favourite players right now play for the North London side.
While Roma are not having the best of seasons, the stature of the Italian club undoubtedly makes this evening’s clash the biggest of Tottenham‘s group-stage encounters in the Europa League.
In fact, one can argue that this has the makings of a Champions League fixture, given the history of the two sides involved.
Roma will have to win to keep their hope of finishing in the top eight alive and one of their star men is under no illusion about the difficulty of the challenge that his side face.
Hummels described Spurs as one of his favourite sides and stated that they will feed off their fans and put the Roma side under pressure.
The centre-back said in the pre-match press conference: “Tottenham have great players such as [Heung-min] Son who always makes you suffer, they’re one of my favourite teams. They are a team that will put us under pressure tomorrow and will want to involve the stadium.”
The World Cup winner also admitted that he loves watching this new-look Tottenham side under Ange Postecoglou and revealed that Micky van de Ven is one of his favourite young defenders in world football.
When asked what he thinks of Spurs’ evolution, Hummels said: “Tottenham’s evolution is really impressive. I really like to watch their games. They play a high pressing [style], with a lot of pace and purpose on the pitch.
“They have some incredible individuals and one of my favourite young defenders in the world, Micky van de Ven, although I think he’s injured at the moment. He can run 40 km/h! Incredible. They have a spectacular team.”
Hummels also spoke about two attackers who played against a lot during his time with Borussia Dortmund: Heung-min Son and Timo Werner.
He admitted that he has not enjoyed coming up against the South Korean, who has scored some important goals against his sides in the past.
When asked about the Tottenham pair, the 35-year-old said: “I know Timo very well. I think he’s going through a bit of a tough spell right now but, with his quality, it’s just a matter of time before he picks up again. Maybe not tomorrow but, after Friday, he has my blessing!
“[And] Son is an incredible player. I’ve had to suffer a lot against him. When he played for Hamburg and Leverkusen, he had a habit of scoring against Dortmund and winning games against us.
“He did the same against Germany in the 2018 World Cup in Russia. He’s quick, intelligent, can shoot with both feet. He’s really dangerous in the box and also outside the box. An all-round great player.”
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