Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino has dismissed suggestions the club will try and move back to White Hart Lane for the Europa League after their Champions League elimination.
The Premier League outfit have been playing their Champions League home matches at Wembley this season but a 2-1 defeat to Monaco on Tuesday means they can only finish as high as third in the group, which will see them drop down into the Europa League knockout stages next year.
Should Spurs avoid defeat to CSKA Moscow in their last group game they will secure third, and there had been reports suggesting Spurs would try to move back to White Hart Lane after a dismal campaign at Wembley, but Pochettino insists they will continue to play European football at Wembley this season.
“The players need to be focused on playing, to talk on the pitch,” The Guardian quotes Pochettino as saying. “That is the most important thing. And then, the decisions of the club are down to the chairman and the board and us – to me, in that case. It’s sure that if we are in the Europa League, we will play at Wembley.
“We need to make it our home and it’s a good opportunity to play our next game at Wembley [against CSKA] and then to play the Europa League games there, if we have the possibility to play Europa League.
“Because, next season, we need to play 19 [Premier League] games, and cups, and European competition [at Wembley]. We need to make Wembley our home and it’s a great opportunity to play. We will play at Wembley.”
Tottenham are set to move into Wembley for the whole of next season as they bid farewell to White Hart Lane before moving into their new stadium for the start of the 2018/19 campaign.
Pochettino’s side have a terrible record at Wembley, having failed to win any of their last eight matches there. That run includes six straight defeats.
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