New Tottenham stadium may not be ready for Champions League last 16 clash

Tottenham are facing a race against time to get their new stadium ready for their Champions League last-16 tie in the New Year.

Spurs will play one of Paris St Germain, Borussia Dortmund, Porto, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich or Juventus over two legs on February 12-13 and 19-20 after booking a place in the knockouts with Tuesday’s dramatic 1-1 draw at Barcelona.

The club announced on Wednesday that their Premier League home game against Manchester United on January 13 will be played at Wembley, amid ongoing issues with the new £1billion stadium’s critical safety systems.

An update from the contractors is expected in the week commencing January 7 and Spurs hope to be in a position to schedule the two test events thereafter. But they must tell Uefa by the end of January where they plan to play the home leg of the European tie and finishing the stadium in time will be tight.

The Premier League game against Newcastle on February 2 or Leicester the following Saturday now appear realistic options as the stadium’s opening game. “We are acutely conscious that we are asking fans to go to Wembley for far longer than any of us wanted to,” said chairman Daniel Levy.

“However, we are now seeing the progress that we needed to see.”

He added: “What I don’t want to do is set any firm dates until we have finally achieved a safety certificate.”

Harry Kane says he hopes Spurs can recreate Anfield’s atmosphere on big European nights at their new home.

“It would be incredible,” Kane said. “It would be special to have Champions League games in the new stadium. We’ve got to try to create that atmosphere. Anfield has been fantastic for Liverpool, they’ve pulled out some great results there and that’s what we need to do.”