Tottenham have confirmed that an agreement has been reached with UEFA to play their first Champions League home game at Wembley this season.
Spurs have played their European matches at England’s national stadium since 2016 and it has been their temporary home for all games since White Hart Lane was demolished in May last year.
The club had been hoping to move into their new Tottenham Hotspur Stadium next month but the construction project is behind schedule.
Wembley Stadium, pictured on Saturday, will host Tottenham’s first Champions League game
Wembley had already been confirmed as the venue for Tottenham’s next two Premier League fixtures — against Liverpool and Cardiff — while the match with Manchester City scheduled for October 28 is listed as TBC.
Tottenham’s first Champions League group match at home will be on September 18 or 19 should it fall in matchweek one, or on October 2 or 3 if in matchweek 2.
It is hoped that Tottenham’s new stadium will be ready to host a game in matchweek three (October 23-24) or matchweek four (November 6-7).
Spurs have had mixed fortunes in European games at Wembley. In the 2016-17 season they lost at home to both Monaco and Bayer Leverkusen before failing to beat Gent in the Europa League.
However, they won all three group games at Wembley last season, beating Dortmund, Real Madrid and APOEL.
Tottenham released a statement on Monday and added that they will ask to switch their first Carabao Cup fixture to an away game or play it at a neutral venue if they are drawn at home in round three, which takes place in the week commencing September 24.
Spurs have played European games at Wembley for the past two seasons and beat Real Madrid
The Spurs statement read: ‘We have agreed with UEFA that the first home matchday of this season’s Champions League group stage, scheduled on either matchday one (week commencing 17 September) or matchday two (week commencing 1 October), will be staged at Wembley Stadium.
‘Both matchdays are due to take place between our two Premier League home fixtures against Liverpool (Saturday 15 September) and Cardiff City (Saturday 6 October), which we confirmed last week had been switched to Wembley.
‘As a further update, should we be drawn at home in Round Three of the Carabao Cup (week commencing 24 September), then we can apply for special dispensation from the EFL board to reverse the fixture or play at a neutral venue as both our new stadium and Wembley are unavailable during this week.’
The EFL also released a statement, which began: ‘In the event that Tottenham Hotspur are drawn at home in Round Three of the Carabao Cup, the Club can apply for special dispensation from the EFL Board to play their fixture away from home as a result of the delays in moving to their new stadium.
‘If the circumstances dictate a reversal is required, then the EFL Board can also determine a level of compensation to be paid by Tottenham Hotspur to the opposing club.
‘The compensation precedent was set in August 2016 when, prior to the draw, Liverpool FC were given permission to play their EFL Cup Round Two tie under the same terms due to redevelopment work taking place on the Club’s Main Stand. On that occasion the draw determined it was not necessary.’
Wembley hosted Barnsley last year but is unavailable for this term’s Carabao Cup third round