Real Madrid center midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur had an incredible game on the defensive end against Nottingham Forest, as he and Sandro Tonali totally shut down shop to help Spurs win their first point of the 2026/27 Premier League season in a 0-0 draw.
Now, the overall sentiment after the game from the fans is negative, and it should be. Because even though Spurs showed real progress in getting a point after losing by a combined 5-0 to Brentford and Newcastle United in their first two matches of the league campaign, Spurs, once again, failed to score once and squandered a lot of great possession.
But even as there is a lot that is negative to take away from the game against Forest, Bentancur has continued to be such a massive positive for the Roberto De Zerbi era Lilywhites. Bentancur joined Spurs a couple of years ago as one of a number of high profile signings from Serie A, and he is still sticking around in the rotation, even after injury and getting benched by the highly promising Archie Gray last season.
Rodrigo Bentancur has been crucial since the end of the 2025/26 season
After recovering from his hamstring injury, Bentancur was one of Spurs most important players at the end of the 2025/26 Premier League season when they survived relegation, and he really solidfied the team, as he is now.
Tottenham Hotspur were waiting to extract the Rodrigo Bentancur who was legitimately one of the best up and coming midfielders in European football when he first started out at Juventus at the end of the 2010s, and while Spurs saw glimpses of it, Bentancur would then go into periods, like at Juventus, in which he would shy away from the ball and, quite frankly, play like a coward.
Well, with Thomas Frank gone and Roberto De Zerbi in, there is nothing cowardly about the brand of football that Bentancur is playing with Tottenham. He and Sandro Tonali looked like a real power duo against Nottingham Forest, and between the two midfielders, Bentancur has been the best holding player for Spurs so far to start the season and a rare bright spot as Spurs toil again in 17th in the Premier League.
Tottenham can only cross their fingers and hope that Bentancur continues to play like this, because it has taken a while, but they are finally starting to see the version of Benta that they hoped they were buying when they signed him from Turin.
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