Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou has hit out at comments made by former Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger that neither Spurs or Manchester United deserve to qualify for the UEFA Champions League if either side wins this season’s Europa League, Afrosport reports.
Both Spurs and United are on cusp of reaching the final with commanding leads over Bodo/Glimt and Athletic Bilbao going into the semi-final second.
Either side winning the final on May 21 will give them a place in next season’s Champions League but Wenger does not think they deserve it as United and Spurs are a distant 15th and 16th in the Premier League respectively.
Postecoglou, responding to the comments ahead of Tottenham’s second leg against Bodo/Glimt in Norway, laughed it off, questioning why it is suddenly an issue now when it was not during Wenger’s time.
“I mean that’s a debate that’s been raging for years. At least the last eight days. I’ve never heard that before. I’ve said it before mate, Spurs does crazy things to people,“ the Australian tactician said.
“It does, it does, you put that club into any sentence or any issue and invariably they all come out and try and diminish [the club] as much as they can. Why wasn’t it an issue before and it’s an issue now? What’s the difference? I don’t understand what the difference is. Last year, fifth didn’t get you into the Champions League, this year it does.
“What does that mean? There are competition rules, and the rules say the winner goes into it. It’s not the first year, and there is not an asterisk against it that you have to do something else as well. But it’s Spurs, mate. They love it. They love it. Oh, they love it! You love it, don’t you?
“Well, you know, I don’t want to go down that road because I’ve got a great respect for Arsene [Wenger]. He’s one of the legends of the game, but it does. It does crazy things to people, mate, I love it, I love it. Bring it on. It’s going to upset people so that makes me happy.”
All eyes on the second leg
pic.twitter.com/u2MBtxbaRI
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) May 5, 2025
Tottenham potentially winning the Europa League will be their first title since winning the EFL Cup in 2008.
Postecoglou has also bragged previously that he always wins titles in his second season.
