In their opening group stage game of the new Europa Conference League, Tottenham Hotspur had to settle for a 2-2 draw against Rennes on Thursday.

After being second-best for most parts of the game, Spurs managed to salvage a point thanks to a brace from Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg.

The Europa Conference League is the new third-tier European tournament planned out by UEFA. 

Although Spurs drew first blood through Lucas Moura’s deflected shot was credited as an own goal by Loic Bade, Rennes immediately hit back with a goal from Flavien Tait and took the lead when Gaetan Laborde scored in the 72nd minute.

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New manager Nuno Espirito Santo has come under a lot of criticism after his side were completely outplayed by Crystal Palace in the Premier League at weekend. A draw in the midweek won’t do his resume a world of good either. Tottenham had Harry Kane leading the line but the skipper failed to get his name on the scoresheet. 

Although Spurs enjoyed more of the possession they failed to get into scoring positions more often. Meanwhile, Rennes, lining in a 4-1-4-1, took snapshots at regular intervals.

Meanwhile, the new third-tier European tournament also featured a game where Germany’s Union Berlin lost 3-1 to Slavia Prague on its European debut after playing the whole second half with 10 men. Gibraltar had its first team in a European group stage as Lincoln Red Imps lost 2-0 at home to Greece’s PAOK.

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Later, a Roma team coached by Jose Mourinho, who could complete a career treble after previously winning the Champions League and Europa League, will compete in the competition.

Tottenham and Roma are among the favourites to win the new Europa Conference League, which was set up to give clubs from smaller countries more chances to compete.

In UEFA’s second-level Europa League, West Ham beat Dinamo Zagreb 2-0 in its first European game for five years.

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Meanwhile, West Ham earned a comfortable 2-0 win at Dinamo Zagreb after Michail Antonio intercepted a backpass for the opening goal and Declan Rice scored in his 150th game for the club. It was Rice’s European debut for West Ham, which last played in the 2016-17 Europa League.

Galatasaray beat Lazio 1-0 with a bizarre goal when Lazio defender Manuel Lazzari’s attempted clearance shot straight up into the air and goalkeeper Thomas Strakosha fumbled it into his own net as he tried to catch. Real Betis recovered from 2-0 down to beat Celtic 4-3.

With inputs from the Associated Press