Antonio Conte says Tottenham were ‘lucky’ to exit Conference League last season

Antonio Conte believes Tottenham Hotspur were lucky to exit the Conference League last season

Antonio Conte believes that Tottenham Hotspur were lucky to exit the UEFA Conference League last season.

Speaking to the press after his side’s goalless draw against Eintracht Frankfurt last night, the Italian was asked about his frustration with not having senior forwards available in his squad.

In the interview, as quoted in Football. London, the Spurs boss remembered last season when he did not have many players in the squad.

“You know I think that last season we reached a great achievement for the club, to play in the Champions League. If you remember we finished last season with only 12 or 13 players. I always say that maybe we were lucky to go out of the Conference League and focus only on the Premier League.”

Spurs had finished the 2020/21 season in seventh place and subsequently qualified for the inaugural Conference League competition last season. However, things did not go according to plan.

The north London club failed to make it past the group-stage finishing third in their group. This meant no European football for the players and fans for the second half of last season.

Although, that did help us in the long run. All focus shifted to the Premier League and we beat our arch-rivals Arsenal to a fourth finish on the Premier League table to qualify for the UEFA Champions League this season.

But that cannot happen this season. Spurs currently sit second in their group with four points and will likely need to win all their remaining three games to guarantee progression onto the next round.

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Tottenham have spent heavily in the summer and added recruitments to their squad. Should the club fail to qualify questions will be asked by the fans to the players and Conte. Spurs have a good squad and should look to compete in all competitions this season.