Tottenham can only bemoan their teammates' lack of success.
Arsenal were knocked out of the 2023-2024 UEFA Champions League quarterfinal second leg at the Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany, on Monday (Jan. 18) after losing 0-1 to Bayern Munich.
Arsenal drew the first leg at home 2-2. A win would have seen them advance to the semifinals, but Munich made the aggregate score 3-2, ending Arsenal's UCL journey in the quarterfinals.
At the same time, Manchester City's journey came to an end. The Citizens were brought to their knees by Real Madrid in a penalty shootout, 3-4, at their home Etihad Stadium in Manchester, England.
In the first leg, City and Real drew 3-3. In that game, City dominated possession with a high 67%. Their Expected Goals (xG) value was 2.74. Real had a value of 1.44.
The first goal belonged to Real. Hodriguez opened the scoring in the 12th minute of the first half. City equalized in the 31st minute with a goal from Kevin De Bruyne, sending the game into extra time.
The tension remained high in the penalty shootout. Julian Alvarez stepped up to take the spot kick and made no mistake. Real's number one kicker, Luka Modric, missed. However, Bernardo Silva and Mateo Kovacic then missed in quick succession and Real advanced to the last four.
This eliminated all Premier League teams from the Champions League stage. Tottenham, watching from afar, were also devastated. Normally, the misfortune of their "local rivals," Arsenal, would be Spurs' happiness, but this time it was different. It was all about how well the teams in their leagues performed in the European competition.
The Champions League will be expanded to 36 teams next season. The top two leagues in the UEFA league table will qualify, with the top five teams from the previous season qualifying. 스포츠토토 Tottenham currently sits in fifth place in the league. Spurs wanted the Premier League to finish in the top two league coefficients.
The teams in the Premier League didn't help. Suddenly, the red light came on for Tottenham. With Arsenal and Man City out, the Premier League dropped to third place overall. Instead, the German Bundesliga, which has two teams in the top four - Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund - moved into second place. In first place is Italy's Serie A.
The UK's Evening Standard tweeted on April 18, "The Premier League is giving way to the Bundesliga. The tables have turned in a stunning result that sees two English teams drop out and two German clubs survive."
"The fifth-placed team in the Premier League will miss out on a Champions League spot," said The Athletic, another British publication.
Meanwhile, the chances of UCL survival for the fifth-place team in the Premier League have become extremely slim. "Italy and Germany have virtually swept the rankings in the race for European soccer leagues," according to Opta Analytics, a soccer statistics firm, "with Serie A having a 99.9% chance of finishing in the top two and the Bundesliga having a 93.4% chance of finishing in the top three."
The English Premier League, once a favorite, now has a 6.2% chance of making the top two. In many ways, Tottenham and other PL teams have been put in a difficult position by the lack of success of the incumbents. Unless they finish fourth, they're likely to qualify for Europa.
At this rate, even if Spurs finish fifth in the league, they'll be in the Europa League, a lower tournament, not the Champions League.
Spurs (60 points) are closing in on fourth-place Aston Villa (63 points), who have played one more game, but they have a tough remaining schedule. They face all of the teams in contention for the league title in the next six games.
This makes the upcoming North London derby with Arsenal all the more important. Son Heung-min and Tottenham are looking to return to the Champions League for the first time in two seasons since the 2022-2023 campaign. Having lost 0-4 at Newcastle in their last match, they will need to turn things around by catching their rivals Arsenal.