Tottenham begin their latest Europa League campaign tonight. It is a tournament in which Spurs, even by well-established Spursy standards, have a miserable record.
The Europa League occupies a uniquely singular spot in Spurs’ trophy-dodging efforts of the last 16 years. It is a competition they consider beneath them, yet one which has also often proven quite significantly above them.
Since the UEFA Cup was rebranded in 2009, Spurs have had seven goes at it along with six in the Champions League. It’s close enough to an even split, and in stupid yet on-brand fashion they have a far better record in the latter.
As well as the 2019 finaleSpurs have reached a Champions League quarter-final and the last 16 three further times. Only once have they failed to get out of the group.
In their seven sniffy attempts at the Europa League they have made it as far as the last eight only once, and then no further. Three last-16 exits match their Big Cup efforts, while there’s also a pair of last-32 exits – one of which represented the first Europa hurdle after dropping down from the Champions League.
Their last crack at this tournament in 2020/21 was perhaps the most ignominious of all, ending in last-16 humiliation for Jose Mourinho’s side against Dinamo Zagreb. Having won the first leg 2-0 in London, Spurs were stunned by a 3-0 defeat in the return against a side whose manager had recently been sentenced to prison.
It’s a part of the story Mourinho always leaves out, for some reason, when complaining that he was denied his God-given right to lead Spurs out in the Carabao Cup final against Man City shortly afterwards.
There is surely no club of Spurs’ size to have had more goes at the rebadged Europa League and do so little with them, and all while viewing the competition with a uniquely arrogant and unjustified disdain.
It is a tournament that, in the time Spurs have been turning their noses up at it while winning sod all else, has been won multiple times by Sevilla, Atletico Madrid and Chelsea, as well as Porto and Manchester United. Arsenal have been beaten in the final, as have United, Liverpool, Ajax, Inter, Roma and Bayer Leverkusen.
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Spurs, frankly, have no right to be as sniffy as they historically have been about a tournament that offers a plausible – often their most plausible – route to notable silverware at a club in urgent need of such a thing.
This year’s collision between Spurs and the Europa is thus a particularly fascinating one. We’re genuinely intrigued as to how they’ll approach it.
There are reasons to suppose the answer is ‘properly, for once’. It certainly should be. For one, there’s Ange Postecoglou’s self-constructed petard about always winning things in his second season. Already, the options there are pretty bare. The Premier League title is out of the question, obviously, the Carabao could have gone once again at the very first hurdle but now requires clearing the most significant of all in the last 16and the FA Cup is a long and unpredictable road the navigating of which requires both luck and skill.
Spurs have, it must also be noted, displayed desperately little of either in that tournament recently as well, having failed to go beyond the last 16 in their last six attempts.
The Europa League, then, offers both the biggest and most realistic route to success for Postecoglou and his team. They have absolutely no excuse not to give it their full attention.
Well, almost no excuse. Because here’s the other thing, of course, that makes Spurs’ approach here so tricky to unpick: the format. We’ve covered this in quite some detail alreadywith all the same problems with this set-up from the Champions League applying to the Europa League, but with knobs on because the standard of opponent is patchier still.
There is, if anything, even less peril about the ‘league phase’ here, and no matter what Spurs do they should still find themselves by hook or by crook in the top 24 when the music stops.
The fact the league stage extends into January also gives clubs even more opportunity to take stock and assess the lay of the land and prioritize accordingly. We can help Spurs out here; this is their priority. They do not and have not for really quite a long time now appear a side equipped to challenge for a Champions League spot via the league. They are absolutely a side that could, with a sprinkling of luck and a following wind, pick a path through Europe’s second-tier opponents. And there are no Champions League dropouts to worry about in the knockouts now.
Such are the tension-free, low-stakes nature of the early rounds, Spurs could be forgiven for treating tonight’s game roughly the way they did the Carabao trip to Coventry, with near-disastrous consequences. They also have a league game at Manchester United this weekend to consider.
But even with this format and other upcoming tasks, we’d love to see Spurs take this very seriously from very early on. From tonight.
It’s not just that it’s a chance to lay down a marker for how they see this competition in general, it’s also just sensitive use of resources. The very nature of this tournament means the eight-match fixture list will vary significantly in standard. Spurs have a gentle start, with Qarabag followed by Ferencvaros and AZ Alkmaar before things step up a notch with Galatasaray away and Roma at home giving things more of a ‘Champions League group stage’ vibe.
Yet the chance is there for Spurs to make those games the ones they needn’t worry about. It’s not Spurs’ fault the format is cooked and that making a decent start in what are on paper some of the easier challenges will go a long way to securing a place in the knockout rounds. They must take that chance.
Some rotation is inevitable and understandable. But these are not nights where we want to see Postecoglou doing the eight or nine changes dance. We want to see Spurs show some proper respect to a tournament they have treated shabbily in the past.
Who knows, they might even surprise themselves and actually do quite well. And at least this way if they still make a big ol’ bollocks of it then it’ll be even funnier for everyone else. Win-win.
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