One of these clubs will have thoroughly deserved to qualify for the Champions League if they get there. The other might argue they would have earned it, but they do not belong anywhere near Europe’s so-called elite.
While Nottingham Forest announced they are going nowhere in the Champions League race by climbing back up to third, Tottenham Hotspur slipped to an 18th Premier League defeat that shows just how ludicrous it will be if they somehow qualify through the back door by winning the Europa League.
Nobody should begrudge Ange Postecoglou a trophy if Tottenham can go all the way in Europe’s B-list event and they made Forest sweat with a late Richarlison goal.