Tottenham manager Antonio Conte has stated that qualifying for the Champions League this season is comparable to winning the Premier League.
You know I don’t like to speak about ambition and reaching a place in the Champions League because I like to play to win the league and win trophies, but in this situation, this could be our Champions League, our Premier League title if we are able to reach fourth place.
The Italian earlier stated that Tottenham had a “1% chance of finishing fourth,” but Monday’s 5-0 victory against Everton brought Spurs equal on 45 points with sixth-placed West Ham United and three points behind fourth-placed Arsenal.
Although the former Chelsea and Inter manager took over at Spurs in November, he has been candid in his appraisal of the club’s current state, which he said startled him.
Conte became the first Spurs manager in history to go undefeated in his first eight games, but momentum has slowed following a lackluster January transfer window.
He added:
Now we have 12 games to play until the end of the season. I listen and you ask me in every press conference about the top-four race.
In January two players made us more complete. I think that we can fight. We can fight for this target. It’s important to have this ambition and it’s not right to hide our ambition and we’ll see what happens.
We’ll try to do everything and in the end, we’ll see what happens. Now we have only 12 games to play, not a trophy to play for. For this reason, it’s right to take the responsibility, me, myself, I have to be the first.
Conte’s team has won three of their last four Premier League games, including a 3-2 victory over Premier League leaders and champions Manchester City.
