Ange Postecoglou has insisted that Tottenham Hotspur will not be aiming for the fifth spot, even though a fifth-place finish in might be enough to qualify for next season’s Champions League.
The Champions League is set to expand to a 36-team competition from the 2024-25 season, with two of the four additional spots being handed to leagues which perform the best in the three European competitions this season.
That will be calculated based on the average coefficient points that the eight Premier League clubs in Europe earn this season (The Athletic).
It was thus a blow for the Premier League when Manchester United and Newcastle United finished bottom of their Champions League groups, which means they are now completely eliminated from Europe.
Postecoglou is not aiming to finish fifth with Spurs
That means just six English sides are left in Europe and Tottenham’s chances of qualifying for Europe’s premier competition may depend on how well Man City, Arsenal, Liverpool, West Ham, Aston Villa and Brighton perform.
When asked if Man Utd’s and Newcastle’s results this week were a blow to Spurs’ qualification chances, Postecoglou simply told Football.London: “Nah, not really. I’m not aiming for fifth spot, mate. So we’ll see.”
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A fifth-place finish is likely going to be enough for Champions League qualification as the six Premier League teams left are all among the favourites to win each of the three competitions.
However, Postecoglou will make it clear to the players that they have to aim for a top-four finish as they cannot rely on others to do them any favours.