"Tottenham drives people crazy."
Tottenham manager Angie Postecoglou countered Arsen Wenger's claim that the Europa League winners should not be eligible to play in the European Champions League. "Tottenham does crazy things to people."
Tottenham, led by Postecoglou, will try to reach the final of their dreams in the second leg of the Europa League semifinal away match against Bodo Aspmirastadion, Norway, at 4 a.m. on the 9th (Korea time). As he won the first round of the home game 3-1, he gained an advantage in going to the finals. Opta, a media outlet specializing in soccer statistics, predicted a 91% chance of Tottenham going to the finals. It is the only remaining line this season for Tottenham, which is ranked 16th in the league. In the final, it is highly likely to face Manchester United, which won the Athletic Club 3-0 in the first leg of the semifinals. The final team will play a match in Bilbao on the 21st for the championship.
Ahead of the fateful second leg of the semifinal, Postecoglou directly hit former Arsenal manager Wenger's remarks, which have recently become controversial. Recently, Wenger has questioned the system in which the Europa League winner automatically qualifies for the European Champions League. It was also a question of Manchester United, ranked 15th in the league, and Tottenham, ranked 16th, getting the best direct ticket to the league in Europe through the Europa League.
However, Postecoglou said he could not understand the sudden claim. "It's a rule that's more than 10 years old, and the debate has been raging for at least the past eight days. I've never heard of it before." "Tottenham is driving people crazy," he added. "Just put this club (Tottenham) in a sentence or issue and people come out and try to undermine it as much as they can." "Hey, this is Tottenham," he wryly said. "This is the rule of the tournament that was set in the first place. Why is it a problem now that it wasn't a problem before? What's the difference? Last year, even if he finished fifth in the Premier League, he could not advance to the Champions League, but he could advance this year. What does this mean?" he raised his voice.
Uefa revised its rules to allow the 2014 Europa League winners to advance to the European Champions League next season, but Wenger did not agree.
In an interview with BeIN Sports, Wenger responded to the question of whether this was the right thing to do. "That's not the case. It's okay to give (the winning team) automatic qualification for the Europa League again, but not for the European Champions League. This is especially true in the case of the Premier League, where five teams have already qualified to play. I think this is something that (UEFA) needs to think about and review" gave an opinion. "On the other hand, people will say that if the Europa League is to remain focused and interested, it should reward (the European Champions League qualification)," he added.
Meanwhile, keen attention is being paid to whether Son Heung-min, who has been absent for a month due to a foot injury, will return. According to local media, it is virtually difficult for Son Heung-min to play in the second round of the semifinals. He is expected to play in the Europa League final. James Madison, who was confirmed to be out of the season due to a knee injury in Game 1, will also not be able to play. Fortunately, striker Dominic Solanke, who led the team to a 3-1 victory in the first round, is expected to return after overcoming a quadriceps injury.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
