When it comes to European football, Tottenham have managed to make managers happy, as that thrilling run to the Champions League final is an understatement. In fact, it often became the place to publish their obituaries.
A seven-goal home defeat to Bayern Munich hastened Mauricio Pochettino’s demise six months after his prime and a disappointing 3-0 defeat to Dinamo Zagreb marked the beginning of the end for Jose Mourinho.
Nuno Espirito Santo’s brief reign hinged on a miserable defeat to Vitesse Arnhem when he left the first team at home in what proved to be a warning to a poor exit in the group stages of the inaugural Europa Conference League.
However, Antonio Conte returned from gallbladder surgery only to face more aches and pains on the touchline against AC Milan as his career spiralled out of control.
Ange Postecoglou would do well to heed health precautions as he embarks on his first Europa League campaign as Spurs manager on Thursday against Azerbaijan’s Qarabag.
Tottenham kick off another European campaign against Qarabag on Thursday
They have not had much success since reaching the Champions League final in 2019 – a 3-0 defeat to Dinamo Zagreb was the beginning of the end for Jose Mourinho (pictured).
Antonio Conte returns from gallbladder surgery to watch his Spurs lose to AC Milan in the 2023 Champions League.
His second season in North London did not get off to a spectacular start.
Victory over Coventry in the Carabao Cup and a derby defeat to Brentford Arsenal in the Premier League eased the pain, but he knows how important it is to make serious progress in Europe after his absence last season.
“We’re excited to get back into it,” Postecoglou said. “It was a real gap in our schedule and not having regular football at certain times and the challenge of playing against different types of opponents and exposing the whole team to significant playing time didn’t help us.”
‘So many reasons. And the worst thing was sitting there watching the other team play. I didn’t do well either, so it’s important to get back to European competition.’
For the club, this is very important in terms of prestige and self-esteem, it increases exposure and generates an additional revenue stream, all of which will sit well with chairman Daniel Levy.
Tottenham have a proud pedigree of being the first British team to win the European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1963 – and they have none in Europe.
In purely footballing terms, Postecoglou sees competition as a key factor in the development of his young squad. With head coaches bemoaning their relentless schedules, rivalling the Premier League’s biggest clubs, Spurs played just 41 games last season and that meant his players were not ready when they were needed most.
“If we had been in Europe last year, we could have developed a bit quicker,” said the Spurs boss. “Especially with the young squad. For many it will be their first time in European competition.
“It will be the first time for us as a team. The team has changed a lot in the last 12 months. I see it as a great opportunity to develop as a team on the football side and hopefully get closer to our goals.”
Ange Postecoglou has not had a good start to her second season but the pressure continues in Thursday’s game
Postecoglou says Tottenham are ‘excited’ to return to Europe after a year away
Ahead of Manchester United, Spurs are 5/1 favourites with the bookmakers to win the competition
Under its new format, the Europa League guarantees eight group games with no team eliminated from the Champions League at the knockout stage, theoretically making the prize more attainable for a club of Tottenham’s stature.
Losing to Liverpool in the Champions League final in 2019 saw them finish in the last 16 in Europe since beating Anderlecht in the UEFA Cup final on penalties 40 years ago, but they start this year as 5/1 favourites with the bookmakers. Ahead of them are Manchester United, Roma and Athletic Bilbao.
“The competition is still the same,” said Postecoglou. “It doesn’t necessarily make it easy because if it’s easy for us, I guess it’s also easy for all the other strong teams in this competition. I don’t think that will change.”
‘It’s a unique format, it’s different. My intuition is that there will be more games. I think in the end we’ll see if it’s more exciting than the knockout phase that everyone wanted to do, but the most important thing is that we’re in it and because we have a chance to make it.’
Karbagh are Azerbaijan champions, having won 10 times in the past 11 years. Like Spurs, they are no strangers to European competition and gave Bayer Leverkusen a scare in the Europa League last 16 last season when they conceded twice in just three minutes, the 93rd minute of the return leg.
Postecoglou insists the competition will not be “easy” even if Champions League teams do not go down as in the past
Qarabag are Azerbaijan champions and have been for 10 of the last 11 years, but Tottenham have plenty of backing to get the job done.
Postecoglou will certainly not be complacent. He has an innate respect for the underdogs due to his past in Australia, even before his Celtic side were stymied by unexpected teams in February of his first season in Glasgow, knocking them out of three UEFA competition series.
Celtic lost to Denmark’s Midtjylland in the Champions League qualifiers and finished third in their Europa League group, sending them down to the Conference League, where they lost at the first hurdle to Norway’s Bodø/Glimt.
Spurs go into the game without Christian Romero, who served a one-match ban for a red card against Milan 18 months ago. DZ Spence and Sergio Reguilon are not in the Europa League squad.
