In a moment of pure, unadulterated farce, Villarreal's Champions League campaign began in the most disastrous fashion imaginable, all thanks to a staggering error from their young goalkeeper.
The highly-anticipated Group Stage opener against Tottenham Hotspur was just minutes old when a routine back-pass from defender Juan Foyth rolled towards shot-stopper Filip Jorgensen. What happened next left commentators speechless and fans rubbing their eyes in disbelief.
Instead of clearing the ball first time, Jorgensen inexplicably attempted to control it with a delicate first touch. The move backfired spectacularly. The ball squirmed horribly under his foot, trickling agonisingly towards the goal line. Tottenham's alert forward, Brennan Johnson, pounced on the gift, tapping the ball into an empty net to stun the Spanish crowd into silence.
The Estadi de la Ceràmica erupted in a mixture of shock and anger as the 21-year-old Danish keeper could only stare at the ground in utter humiliation, his early mistake handing the visiting English side a crucial away goal and a psychological advantage they scarcely had to work for.
This catastrophic blunder immediately drew comparisons to some of the most infamous goalkeeping errors in football history, setting social media alight with reactions. For Tottenham and their new manager, it was a dream start to their European season, a goal handed to them on a silver platter. For Villarreal, it was a nightmare beginning that they will struggle to recover from, both in the match and perhaps in the group.
