Ange Postecoglou hits back at Arsene Wenger after Europa League criticism

Ange Postecoglou has hit back at Arsene Wenger over his calls to deny the Europa League winners a place in the UEFA Champions League.

After the first legs of the Europa League semi-finals, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United look poised to contest the final, with the winner qualifying for next season’s UEFA Champions League, despite both finishing well down the Premier League table.

The former Arsenal manager was asked if the Europa League winners should qualify for the UEFA Champions League, and said: "No. They should qualify automatically for the Europa League again. Not necessarily for the Champions League. Especially when you're in a league where five teams qualify."

Asked for his thoughts on the rule at his pre-match press conference, Postecoglou said: “Well that’s a debate that’s been raging for years, at least the last… eight days?” prompting laughter from those in attendance.

“I’ve never heard that before,” he added. “I’ve said it before, Spurs does crazy things to people, it does. You put that club into any sentence or any issue, invariably they all come out and try and diminish as much as they can.

“Why wasn’t it an issue before and it’s an issue now? What’s the difference? Last year, fifth didn’t get you into the Champions League, this year it does. What does that mean? There are competition rules.

“It’s going to upset people so that makes me happy!”

Spurs won the first leg 3-1 and are in a commanding position, but away from home on an artificial pitch in front of a stadium within the Arctic Circle that holds around 8,000 fans, Postecoglou knows the job is far from done.

“Whenever you play away from home in Europe, it’s always challenging, it’s always tough,” said Postecoglou. “Obviously the opposition have the normality of the conditions and the stadium and the crowd behind them so all those kind of things make it difficult.

“I think the fact it’s a semi-final, it’s a big game, it’s always going to be a bit tight, a bit tense throughout the whole game. I think it’s just the nature of the competition you’re in.

“[The pitch] is obviously different but we’ll train on it today, and whether it’s the pitch, the atmosphere, the conditions, there’s always something you need to overcome.

Liam Williams

• Tottenham Hotspur F.C.
• Europa League
• European Football
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