Tottenham Hotspur jumped back into fifth today after a much-needed win over Aston Villa in the Premier League, closing the gap to Chelsea in fourth to just one point.
When Mourinho took over, Spurs were 12 points adrift of the Blues in fourth, showing the development in results under the Special One.
Typically, in the Premier League, the top four spots represent Champions League football for the next season.
However, things could take a turn this year after the news broke that Man City had been banned for two years from European competitions by UEFA (BBC).
This means that they would not be allowed to play in the Champions League next season, unless they appeal and have it overturned.
Reports have claimed that, if Man City are banned and finish in the top four, their Champions League qualification place will go to the fifth-placed team (Metro).
With Spurs currently occupying fifth, Jose Mourinho reacted to the news today. He also joked about whether Man United would be given the league title for the 2017/18 season when he guided them to a second-place finish behind Man City.
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He said (Football London): “My view is that I didn’t lose one single minute analysing what UEFA and FIFA, they have to analyse. If I go into that, I have to ask if the team that finished second in 2018 is going to be champions, yes or no? That would be interesting but joking apart, I just wait calmly. Fourth or fifth, I just think about doing the best we can. The more points we can get the better position we can get. At the end of the season, we’ll see where we are. If we are sixth or seventh then it doesn’t matter if the fifth goes to Champions League.
“There is a big fight. You could see yesterday Liverpool, first against the last, you could see today Villa fighting to stay in the division and us fighting for top position, how difficult it is. This is the Premier League. So when we speak about the fifth spot, I think for sure Wolves, Sheffield United, Man United, Arsenal, Everton, everyone looks to the table and week after week they say we can do it and they can. It’s going to be very hard.”
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