Villas-Boas: "Extremely unfair" that Chelsea have joined Spurs in Europa League
Current Tottenham Hotspur manager Andre Villas-Boas has complained about UEFA regulations that “reward” clubs “failure” in the Champions League group stages, specifically Chelsea’s inclusion in the Europa League round-of-32.
Andre Villas-Boas has claimed his former club Chelsea should not be rewarded for Champions League failure by playing in the Europa League.
But the ex-Stamford Bridge boss now wants his Tottenham side to meet Rafa Benitez’s Blues in Europe’s second-tier competition after Christmas.
“Sometimes it’s destiny,” he said.
Tottenham reached the last 32 of the Europa League with a 3-1 win over Greek side Panathinaikos on Thursday – their fourth straight victory in all competitions.
They cannot be drawn with Champions League holders Chelsea in the next round but AVB could face his former club in the last 16.
The Portuguese coach added: “I think it’s extremely unfair.
“The clubs that should come down are the Champions League clubs that qualify for the last 16 and then are knocked out. That’s much fairer.
“You can’t give a bonus to teams who have failed.
“In the situation as it stands, teams fail in the Champions League and are promoted to the Europa League, which is a massive bonus.
“This is not something which I’ve just invented yesterday, it’s something I said in UEFA meetings when I was at Porto.
“It’s up to them to decide, but I think it’s not fair.”
“We can’t meet in the last 32, so anything can happen,” added AVB. “Sometimes it’s destiny.
“Hopefully if we go through, we can meet each other, obviously.
“They have a team that can win the trophy, so they will be up to the late stages of the competition. We hope to do so.
“If we cross, it is going to be two magnificent games, for sure.
Villas-Boas has done well so far at Spurs, but won’t stand a chance if they meet in the Europa League. Chelsea have plenty more experience in Europe and will rise to the occasion should we meet.
I look forward to a possible London derby in the Europa League, and will no doubt be hoping the draw pits us against each other. Who else would you like us to be drawn against?
Lol
he’s so stupid in his thought . We can flog tot. anytime and anywhere. And he knows it will be the case when we meet. We are not there to dash any title hopes to the floor AVB
Avb is very much rational in his reasoning. Even as a chelsea fan, I reason with avb. It is unfaire,how will a club go out from group stage and get rewarded with ueropa while a club that goes out in round 16 will go empty handed. Let eufa should revisit that plan or better still scrape europa and increase cl to 64 teams
Pfft, ‘spurs wont stand a chance’. Firstly it will depend on how seriously Rafa takes the competition, assuming he is still manager by February. Secondly, the way Chelsea are playing at the moment, Southampton would fancy their chances playing you over two legs.