Antonio Conte appears to play down Spurs’ chances of Champions League football

Antonio Conte has claimed that he believes Tottenham Hotspur have just a one per cent chance of qualifying for the Champions League come the end of this season.

The north Londoners head to Premier League frontrunners Manchester City on Saturday evening on the back of three successive top flight defeats which have seen them drop to eighth place in the table.

Despite their lowly league position, Spurs are currently eight points off fourth place Manchester United and have three games in hand.

The Italian took charge of Spurs in November following the dismissal of Nuno Espirito Santo and highlighted the strength of the clubs who play in the top division in England while suggesting his team are on par with the likes of West Ham, Leicester and Wolves.

Tottenham were regulars in European football’s most prestigious club competition under the management of Mauricio Pochettino but have failed to qualify since the Argentine was sacked by Daniel Levy in November 2019.

In an interview with beIN Sports, Conte was quizzed about whether his ambitions were being met at Tottenham to which he paused and smiled prior to answering:

“In the past I always say I have to feel only one per cent the possibility to win the league.

“For sure here the situation is strange because maybe I feel the one per cent possibility to have the ambition to finish fourth.

“The situation is different because the level of this league is very high and there is not a lot of space in this moment for other teams than the top teams.

“For this reason and because the level is high and you know every single team want to improve.

“Not only Tottenham but Arsenal, Leicester, West Ham, Aston Villa and Newcastle. Also teams like Brighton and Wolverhampton.

“They all want to improve and at the moment we have to fight with these teams and not the top teams.

“We have to know this.”

SpursWeb Opinion

Conte is certainly not holding back with his public assessment of the squad that he has inherited or the current state of the club in terms of what can be realistically achieved.

This summer could prove to be make or break if the chairman does not look to back the manager with exactly what he needs to move the club forward. Missing out on Champions League football would be catastrophic from the perspective of Harry Kane’s future along with the issue of trying to lure top talent to the club without the promise of playing in the competition.

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