History | Five big wins against Dutch opposition

Big games against Dutch opposition are somewhat of a theme through our history in European competition - from the second tie in our first European campaign against Feyenoord in 1961 to the UEFA Cup Final against Feyenoord in 1974 and, of course, that night against Ajax in Amsterdam approaching six years ago.

As a club, we first played matches in Holland in 1928, a summer Tour that took us to Amsterdam, The Hague, Almelo and Rotterdam.

Almost 100 years on, we travel to Alkmaar, just outside Amsterdam, to face AZ for the second time in this season's UEFA Europa League. Victorious by the only goal in Matchday 3 of the league phase, we now meet again over two legs in the Round of 16, the first leg at the AFAS Stadion on Thursday (5.45pm UK) followed by the return at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium next week (Thursday 13 March, 8pm).

So, almost 100 years of history, 64 in European competition - here are five big wins against Dutch opposition...

01.11.61 | Feyenoord 1-3 Spurs

European Cup 1st round, 1st leg
Drew 1-1 in the 2nd leg at home, won 4-2 on aggregate
Lost to Benfica in the semi-finals

How fitting, with youngsters playing such a big part this season, that an 18-year-old stole the show on our first competitive visit to Holland as we took on Feyenoord in our debut European Cup campaign in 1961. Frank Saul scored twice in the second half to put us 3-0 up in this first round, first leg in Rotterdam, with Terry Dyson heading home the opener just before half-time. Dyson was on target again in the second leg, a 1-1 draw at the Lane to see us home 4-2 on aggregate. It was so near yet so far for Bill Nicholson's double winners as we lost, somewhat controversially, in the semi-finals against Benfica.

19.10.83 | Spurs 4-2 Feyenoord

UEFA Cup, 2nd round, 1st leg
Won 2-0 away in the second leg, 6-2 on aggregate
Beat Anderlecht in the final

One of the all-time great European performances saw Glenn Hoddle in his pomp against the Dutch maestro, Johan Cruyff. This second round, first leg clash in the UEFA Cup was seen as a match up between the two - Cruyff, the inspirational figure of Ajax and Holland, who led the Dutch to World Cup Finals in 1974 and 1978, opted to try and man mark Hoddle, who was simply too good. He had a hand in all four goals as we went 4-0 up by half-time with Tony Galvin and Steve Archibald both scoring twice. "It was a bad error of judgement," admitted Cruyff later. "I thought I could mark him and keep him quiet. The result shows I could not. He was a player that I had liked, but it was only on the pitch that I realised how good he really was." Galvin was on the scoresheet again, joined by Chris Hughton, as a 2-0 win in Rotterdam secured a 6-2 aggregate win on our way to European glory that season.

29.09.10 | Spurs 4-1 FC Twente

UEFA Champions League, group stage
Lost in quarter-finals to Real Madrid

What a night for Rafa van der Vaart, up against his fellow Dutchmen in the second group match of our debut Champions League campaign in 2010/11. Rafa had a penalty saved, scored the opener early in the second half and was then sent off for a second bookable offence. It was 2-1 by then - Roman Pavlyuchenko from the spot, before future Spur Nacer Chadli responded - but Harry Redknapp's fearless team, down to 10 men, just went for it, with Pavlyuchenko adding a second penalty and Gareth Bale completing a memorable night with the fourth. This was Bale's arrival on the European stage - the back-to-back games against Inter were next - and we went on to top the group and beat AC Milan before bowing out against Real Madrid.

06.11.18 | Spurs 2-1 PSV

UEFA Champions League, group stage
Lost the final against Liverpool

Our run to the 2019 Champions League Final was full of big moments - starting on this November night at Wembley, continuing spectacularly against Ajax in May. After picking up one point from our opening three group games - losses against Inter and Barcelona, a draw at PSV - we were on the brink approaching the last 10 minutes of the return game against PSV, trailing 1-0. Even a draw wouldn't have been enough. But then those moments - Harry Kane won an aerial duel on the edge of PSV's box, Fernando Llorente touched it back to him and he drove home the equaliser. Then, with two minutes left, Ben Davies somehow dug a cross out from the left byline and Kane's header deflected off Trent Sainsbury beyond Jeroen Zoet for the winner that kept us in the competition...

08.05.19 | Ajax 2-3 Spurs

UEFA Champions League, semi-final, 2nd leg
Lost the 1st leg 1-0, drew 3-3 on aggregate, won on away goals
Lost the final against Liverpool

A never-to-be-forgotten night in Amsterdam that took us through to the Champions League Final. Context is key - we trailed 1-0 from the first leg, and looked down and out as Ajax, so impressive that season, raced into a 2-0 lead on the night, 3-0 on aggregate by half-time. Enter Lucas Moura - and more of those moments. Goal one, Danny Rose nutmegged Matthijs de Ligt and clipped a pass to Lucas, who just reached it and found Dele. Dele broke forward, turned inside Frenkie de Jong before Lucas took over, somehow evaded Lasse Schöne and finished from 20 yards. Goal two, Lucas managed to keep the ball away from Schöne and de Jong in no space at all in the box, and still squeezed his shot through Schöne's legs and past de Ligt on the line, an incredible goal. That set it up for the match-winning, hat-trick goal, goal three - Ben Davies won the ball in a 30-70 challenge on halfway, Moussa Sissoko lofted up to the edge of the box where Fernando Llorente held off de Ligt to flick to Dele, he rolled an inch-perfect pass into Lucas, who got there a fraction before de Ligt to drive into the bottom corner. Pandemonium! The moments that took us to Madrid...

European results vs Dutch opposition

01.11.61 - Feyenoord 1-3 Spurs - European Cup
15.11.61 - Spurs 1-1 Feyenoord - European Cup
21.05.74 - Spurs 2-2 Feyenoord - UEFA Cup Final
29.05.74 - Feyenoord 2-0 Spurs - UEFA Cup Final
16.09.81 - Ajax 1-3 Spurs - European Cup Winners Cup (ECWC)
29.09.81 - Spurs 3-0 Ajax - ECWC
19.10.83 - Spurs 4-2 Feyenoord - UEFA Cup
02.11.83 - Feyenoord 0-2 Spurs - UEFA Cup
04.03.92 - Feyenoord 1-0 Spurs - ECWC
18.03.92 - Spurs 0-0 Feyenoord - ECWC
06.03.08 - Spurs 0-1 PSV - UEFA Cup
12.03.08 - PSV 0-1 Spurs (lost 5-6 on pens) - UEFA Cup
27.11.08 - NEC Nijmegen 0-1 Spurs - UEFA Cup
29.09.10 - Spurs 4-1 FC Twente - UEFA Champions League
07.12.10 - FC Twente 3-3 Spurs - UEFA Champions League
24.10.18 - PSV 2-2 Spurs - UEFA Champions League
06.11.18 - Spurs 2-1 PSV - UEFA Champions League
30.04.19 - Spurs 0-1 Ajax - UEFA Champions League
08.05.19 - Ajax 2-3 Spurs - UEFA Champions League
21.10.21 - Vitesse 1-0 Spurs - UEFA Conference League
04.11.21 - Spurs 3-2 Vitesse - UEFA Conference League
24.10.24 - Spurs 1-0 AZ Alkmaar - UEFA Europa League