Tottenham Hotspur manager Ryan Mason disappointed with UEFA Conference League finish despite win vs Leicester City
Speaking in a post-match press conference (h/t football.london) after his side beat Leicester City on Sunday, Ryan Mason said that UEFA Europa Conference League is not the competition Tottenham Hotspur wanted to be in this season.
The Conference League is a third season-long competition launched by UEFA from the 2021/2022 season. It is below the Champions League and Europa League in the pecking order.
Winners of the Carabao Cup are awarded a spot in the qualifiers for the Conference League. But since Manchester City won that competition and are already qualified for the top 4, the Conference League spot went to the highest-placed English team in the table that hasn’t qualified for Europe.
And this season, that team is Spurs. The 5h and 6th-placed teams are in the Europa League while the top 4 go to the UEFA Champions League.
A chance at European silverware
Speaking after his side’s impressive 4-2 comeback win against the Foxes on Sunday, Mason stated how Champions League, not the Conference League, was Spurs’ aim all along.
“First of all, we wanted to be in the Champions League. I’ve said all along, it’s disappointing where we are in this moment. It’s very disappointing for the football club. It’s important we’re in Europe, not the European competition we’d want to be in.”
However, it is still a European competition and offers Spurs a chance to win their first trophy since 2008. This is why, Mason mentions that while Spurs are disappointed to be in the Conference League, they will still respect it.
“Yes, it’s not the competition we want to be in next year, but it’s a European competition, and we will respect it, that’s for sure.”
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Spurs will now hope to gather themselves and push for a better finish next season. They would know that the Champions League has slowly become an imperative for any top club in Europe.
