Mauricio Pochettino is keen for Tottenham Hotspur to book a spot in the last 32 of the Europa League as the competition has the carrot of a Champions League group stage spot for the winners.

Spurs host Russian side CSKA Moscow at Wembley tomorrow night in the Champions League and know avoiding defeat would book third spot in their group and with it a place in the Europa League after Christmas.




The Europa League is often regarded as a hindrance by some managers, who field weakened teams, believing playing on Thursday nights can badly affect league form.

But Pochettino regards the Europa League as important and firmly has in his mind that the winners qualify for the Champions League, meaning the competition offers up an extra route into the Champions League for his side.
 


"It’s important to be positive", Pochettino said at a press conference when asked about the Europa League.

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"It’s true that it will be tough to be involved in the Europa League again, but if we cannot cope with the pressure to play in Champions League or we don’t show that we deserve in the end to qualify, now our responsibility is to try to win tomorrow, go to the Europa League, try to do our job and try to go further in that competition."

Asked whether he views the Europa League as an easier route into the Champions League than the Premier League, given fewer games stand between Spurs and winning the trophy than is the case between themselves and the top four in the league, Pochettino replied: "I agree [it’s a route with fewer games], but at the same time to win five or six games will be difficult because you compete with very good clubs in Europe.

"It’s true that in the short term it’s one possibility more to go to the Champions League", he added.

Spurs beat CSKA Moscow in the reverse group fixture, running out 1-0 winners in Russia.

However, Pochettino's men have lost both of their group games at Wembley, going down to Monaco and Bayer Leverkusen.