Despite the fact that Tottenham Hotspur were drawn to play their first Europa League knockout tie against Dinamo Zagreb away from home, the fixtures were reversed.
This is because Arsenal were also drawn to play their second fixture in North London and, as per UEFA rules, two clubs from the same city cannot play at home on the same day (Alasdair Gold).
Due to the fact that Arsenal are the England FA Cup holders, they were said to have priority when it comes to fixtures and thus their games against Olympiacos remained the same.
Spurs, on the other hand, would reverse their fixtures and now play at home first, followed by an away trip to Croatia.
This had a significant impact as the North London Derby is up this weekend in the Premier League, meaning that Spurs do not have to travel and Arsenal do.
However, Jose Mourinho was keen to dismiss any idea of an advantage to his side, pointing towards fixtures that occurred earlier in the season.
He said (Football London): “On December 6th we played Arsenal in our stadium. On December 3rd they played at home against Rapid Vienna. At the same time, we were playing in the ice in Linz with a late flight back. Was that an advantage to Arsenal?”
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