FC Groningen head coach Erwin van de Looi makes no bones about the face he was hoping to face Tottenham Hotspur in the Europa League group stage.
The Europa League draw was announced yesterday and Groningen were placed in Group F along with France’s Marseille, the Czech Republic’s Slovan Liberec and Portugal’s Braga.
While he admits that Marseille are a big club with great European tradition, Van de Looi has revealed that he was hoping to see Tottenham in the same group as his team.
However, he did say that he is intrigued with the draw and is keen to see how his men fare against their opponents in the group stage of the Europa League.
Speaking to the club’s official website, the Groningen head coach said: “We were hoping for a big club and we have got Olympique Marseille.
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“On a personal level, I would have liked to face Tottenham, but that is my personal preference.
“Marseille are a great European club, an opponent of Champions League level. I am also very curious how we play against the other two clubs.”
Tottenham have been placed in a tough looking Group J, which also includes Belgian heavyweights Anderlecht, Ligue 1’s AS Monaco and Azerbaijan minnows Qarabag.
Mauricio Pochettino has made it clear that he would have rather seen his team in the Champions League. However, the Tottenham boss will want to see his men go deep into the Europa League to further their European credentials.
