Tottenham's Champions League nightmare scenario facing Thomas Frank revealed

Thomas Frank will lead Tottenham Hotspur into the Champions League while making his debut in the competition

Tottenham are back in the big time with the Champions League and their opponents in the league phase are now known for the season ahead.

Thomas Frank and the club want to compete on multiple fronts this season and the full effect of the fixture calendar with Champions League and domestic cup games added in shows the task ahead.

Tottenham now know that they will face Borussia Dortmund, Villarreal, Slavia Praha and Copenhagen at home, and travel away to play PSG, Eintracht Frankfurt, Bodo/Glimt and Monaco across the league phase in eight matches stretching all the way into January. The exact order and dates of the games will be announced in the next couple of days.

Spurs played PSG in this month's UEFA Super Cup and travelled to Frankfurt last season in the Europa League quarter-finals as well as Bodo/Glimt in the semis. Of all the teams Tottenham could have drawn, it's a more favourable draw with more familiar opponents than Frank and the club might have expected and less travelling than most.

Last season Spurs ' squad was stretched beyond its limit as they had to play 60 matches across the campaign under former boss Ange Postecoglou . They managed to win the Europa League and reach the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup, but they finished 17th in the Premier League and did not progress beyond the fourth round in the FA Cup as an injury crisis, poor performances and Postecoglou deciding to prioritise Europe all played a part.

In sacking the Australian, Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy made it clear that he expects the club to compete on multiple fronts. Frank will now face a similar fixture pile-up, with games every three to four days most weeks, and the Dane will be hoping for better fortune when it comes to injuries as well as the club helping him in the final days of the transfer window to build a stronger squad capable of taking on the expanded Champions League format.

It will be a new experience for Frank as he has never experienced juggling European football during the middle of a campaign, with his only experience of it coming with 10 Europa League qualifying games around a decade ago at Brondby.

When you look at the coming fixture schedule with the Champions League fixtures added in as well as the domestic cup competitions, it's a fearsome prospect.

What was already a horrendous trio of games against Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal in November now becomes even harder when you insert a potential Carabao Cup fourth round match days before the game against Chelsea, then Champions League matchday four after it, before the home game against United, and then the trip to the Emirates Stadium after the international break is swiftly followed by the next European matchday.

A run of four tough games from January into February next year against Manchester City, Manchester United, Newcastle and Arsenal becomes even harder when you add in Champions League matchday eight just days before the game against City and a potential Carabao Cup semi-final second leg days after.

There could then be an FA Cup fourth round match and a potential Champions League knockout phase play-offs first leg tie to squeeze in between the games against Newcastle and Arsenal with the second leg of the play-offs just days after the home North London Derby. In an ideal world Spurs will want to finish in the top eight in the expanded Champions League to avoid the play-offs, but that is easier said than done in Europe's elite club competition.

It's easier to see it all laid out so here is Tottenham's fixture schedule ahead with all the potential Champions League and cup dates added in:

30/08/25 Tottenham vs Bournemouth 3pm

13/09/25 West Ham vs Tottenham 5.30pm

16-18/9/25 Champions League matchday one

20/09/25 Brighton vs Tottenham 3pm

22/09/25 (week of) Carabao Cup third round - Tottenham vs Doncaster Rovers

28/09/25 Tottenham vs Wolves 2pm

30/9 to 01/10/25 Champions League matchday two

04/10/25 Leeds United vs Tottenham 12.30pm

19/10/25 Tottenham vs Aston Villa 2pm

21-22/10/25 Champions League matchday three

26/10/25 Everton vs Tottenham 4.30pm

27/10/25 Carabao Cup fourth round

01/11/25 Tottenham vs Chelsea 3pm

4-5/11/25 Champions League matchday four

08/11/25 Tottenham vs Manchester United 3pm

22/11/25 Arsenal vs Tottenham 3pm

25-26/11/25 Champions League matchday five

29/11/25 Tottenham vs Fulham 3pm

03/12/25 Newcastle United vs Tottenham 8pm

06/12/25 Tottenham vs Brentford 3pm

9-10/12/25 Champions League matchday six

13/12/25 Nottingham Forest vs Tottenham 3pm

15/12/25 Carabao Cup fifth round

20/12/25 Tottenham vs Liverpool 3pm

27/12/25 Crystal Palace vs Tottenham 3pm

30/12/25 Brentford vs Tottenham 8pm

03/01/26 Tottenham vs Sunderland 3pm

07/01/26 Bournemouth vs Tottenham 8pm

10/01/26 FA Cup third round

12/01/26 Carabao Cup semi-final first leg

17/01/26 Tottenham vs West Ham 3pm

20-21/01/26 Champions League matchday seven

24/01/26 Burnley vs Tottenham 3pm

28/01/26 Champions League matchday eight

31/01/26 Tottenham vs Manchester City 3pm

02/02/26 Carabao Cup semi-final second leg

07/02/26 Manchester United vs Tottenham 3pm

11/02/26 Tottenham vs Newcastle United 8pm

14/02/26 FA Cup fourth round

17-18/02/26 Champions League knockout phase play-offs first leg

21/02/26 Tottenham vs Arsenal 3pm

24-25/02/26 Champions League knockout phase play-offs second leg

28/02/26 Fulham vs Tottenham 3pm

04/03/26 Tottenham vs Crystal Palace 8pm

07/03/26 FA Cup fifth round

10-11/03/26 Champions League round of 16 first leg

14/03/26 Liverpool vs Tottenham 3pm

17-18/03/26 Champions League round of 16 second leg

21/03/26 Tottenham vs Nottingham Forest 3pm

22/03/26 Carabao Cup final

04/04/26 FA Cup quarter-final

7-8/04/26 Champions League quarter-final first leg

11/04/26 Sunderland vs Tottenham 3pm

14-15/04/26 Champions League quarter-final second leg

18/04/26 Tottenham vs Brighton 3pm

25/04/26 Wolves vs Tottenham 3pm

25/04/26 FA Cup semi-final

28-29/04/26 Champions League semi-final first leg

02/05/26 Aston Villa vs Tottenham 3pm

5-6/05/26 Champions League semi-final second leg

09/05/26 Tottenham vs Leeds United 3pm

16/05/26 FA Cup final

17/05/26 Chelsea vs Tottenham 3pm

24/05/26 Tottenham vs Everton 4pm

30/05/26 Champions League final in Budapest