'Unbelievable' Vicario insists lessons will be learned from Monaco draw

Tottenham hero Guglielmo Vicario insisted his team-mates have a lot to learn from their Champions League stalemate with Monaco on Wednesday. 

Vicario was in inspired form for Spurs at Stade Louis-II, producing eight saves throughout the game to ensure Thomas Frank's side returned to north London with a point. 

The Italian's standout moment came in the 76th-minute with a stunning point-blank stop to deny Jordan Teze's header, before Takumi Minamino blazed over soon after. 

Indeed, Monaco registered 23 shots against Spurs, their fourth-most on record (since 2003-04) in the Champions League, only managing more against Red Star Belgrade (27 in October 2024), Lokomotiv Moscow (27 in March 2004) and Real Madrid (24 in April 2004).

But for Tottenham, who managed to test Monaco goalkeeper Philipp Kohn just twice in the encounter, there was room for improvements at both ends of the pitch. 

They have won just one of their last eight Champions League away matches (D3 L4), failing to win any of their last three on the road in the competition since a 2-1 win against Marseille in November 2022.

"It was not the best performance from us. There is a lot to learn from this game because the level in the Champions League is very high. If you miss some basics, it is tough to compete," Vicario told TNT Sports. 

"Everyone who plays at the back is a Champions League player. It is not about changes tonight, it is about the effort, the mentality and the awareness of danger we need to have in some situations. I think tonight we lacked a little bit of that.

"It is a point we have to take. It is a tough point because we had to battle and suffer a lot, so credit to Monaco. Today they were better than us."

And Archie Gray, who started a Champions League game 45 years and 21 days after his grandfather Frank's last European Cup start for Nottingham Forest in October 1980, was quick to laud his goalkeeper's fine display. 

"It was a difficult game. We weren't at our best. They were on top for most of the game and Guglielmo Vicario kept us in it," Gray added.

"We always stick together, but Vic was unbelievable, keeping us in the game.

"We will learn from these tough moments. I believe this team can do anything. We all believe in each other."

Tottenham generated an expected goals (xG) total of just 0.87 from their 11 shots compared to Monaco's 2.45, and they have now failed to score a goal in the first half in 11 of their last 13 Champions League matches, netting just one goal in their last seven first halves combined in the competition.

And with a difficult fixture away to Everton next up in the Premier League, Frank is hoping to see wholesale improvements from his team. 

"I think there is a big credit to Monaco today. It was a hard point won," Frank said. 

"It was a relatively even first half. In the second half, our performance was not good and Monaco were better than us. It demanded a lot to keep the clean sheet.

"I think Vicario was very good. But it was not the performance we wanted, especially the second half."