Tottenham Hotspur are back in the UEFA Champions League for the 2022/23 campaign for the first time in three seasons and get things underway with the visit of Marseille in Group D on Wednesday.
Spurs secured their place in Europe’s elite football competition on the final day of the 2021/22 Premier League campaign with a 5-0 victory over Norwich City as they grabbed fourth spot ahead of north London rivals Arsenal.
Antonio Conte has played a big part in the club’s turnaround in fortunes since his appointment last November and now Manchester City legend Sergio Aguero has backed the Lilywhites as ‘dark horses’ under the Italian in this season’s competition.
Spurs have been handed a very favourable draw in their quest to reach the knockout stages, having been pitted against Marseille, Sporting Lisbon and last season’s Europa League winners Eintracht Frankfurt, leading Aguero to believe they can pose a very serious threat.
Previewing this week’s first round of group stage fixtures, he told Stake : “With [former manager, Mauricio] Pochettino, Tottenham already had a great performance in the Champions League. Now with Conte, a coach with a lot of experience, they are managing to be a very solid team.
“He knows how he wants to play and his counterattack can be lethal. “[Conte] has added to Kane and Son with Richarlison and two wingers who are very good in [Dejan] Kulusevski and [Ivan] Perisic. [Spurs] will be a very difficult rival for any team. They could be a big threat in Europe this year."
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The Lilywhites last featured in the Champions League back in the 2019-20 season, when they were drawn in Group B alongside Bayern Munich, Olympiacos and Red Star Belgrade, in which they advanced to the knockout stages as runners-up behind the German giants.
But their campaign was quickly cut short following a 4-0 aggregate defeat to Bundesliga outfit RB Leipzig in the last 16, following on from their heroics the previous season in which they reached the final in Madrid, only to lose 2-0 to Liverpool.
Since then, they’ve featured in the Europa League in 2020-21 and the inaugural season of the Europa Conference League in 2021-22, reaching the last 16 of the former before failing to make it out of the group stage in the latter.
But without the interference of European knockout rounds last season following his appointment, Conte was able to mould an underwhelming Spurs side into the team he wanted, and eventually secured their return to the Champions League with that fourth-placed finish.
His preferred 3-4-3 formation has proven influential in Tottenham’s recent success, whereby he formed a devastating front three of Dejan Kulusevski, Harry Kane and Son Heung-min, and further additions this summer have provided extra quality and strength in depth.
This season has also started on a positive note following four wins and two draws from their opening six Premier League games, leaving them as one of two undefeated sides in the top flight, and with a favourable Champions League group ahead of them it is understandable as to why they have been labelled the ‘dark horses’.
