What does Arsene Wenger think about Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur in the Champions League?
Former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said in a recent interview that he doesn’t think Manchester United or Tottenham Hotspur should qualify for next season’s Champions League if they win the UEFA Cup this season.
Both teams are currently in the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup. Both teams played well in the first round of the competition: Manchester United won 3-0 and Tottenham Hotspur won 3-1. That’s why many people think that they could make it to the final, which will be held in Bilbao on May 21.
If one of these teams wins the UEFA Cup, they will automatically qualify for next season’s Champions League. But Wenger doesn’t support that.
Why shouldn’t they have qualified for the Champions League in the first place?
In the Premier League, Manchester United are now 15th and Tottenham Hotspur are 16th. Neither position is enough to qualify them for the Champions League based on their Premier League results.
Normally, the top teams in the Premier League qualify for the Champions League. And Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur’s results are so poor right now that it’s not even their turn.
However, UEFA changed a rule in 2014:** UEFA Cup winners can participate directly in the next season’s Champions League**. Despite this rule, Wenger thinks it’s unfair.
In an interview with BeIN Sports, he said: “I don’t think it’s right. The best they can do is qualify for the UEFA Cup, not the Champions League. Especially since there are already five teams in the Premier League that can play in the Champions League, adding two more would be too much.”
Does this rule really make sense?
Wenger also mentioned that UEFA should reconsider the rule. He understands that some people would say that in order to make the UEFA Cup more attractive, the winner should be given a place in the Champions League. But he disagrees with this argument.
He said: “This would only make the competition unfair and upset other teams.
Has a lower-ranked team ever won the UEFA Cup?
In fact, since the UEFA Cup was renamed in the 2009-10 season, no team ranked lower than 12th in their domestic league has reached the final or won the UEFA Cup.
Sevilla, for example, won the UEFA Cup in 2023 after finishing 12th in La Liga, while Fulham, who finished 12th in the Premier League in 2009/10, also reached the final but lost to Atletico Madrid.
However, most of the teams that make it to the UEFA Cup final, or even win it, aren’t doing too badly in their domestic leagues.
How did Manchester United get into the Champions League from the UEFA Cup in the past?
It’s worth noting that in Jose Mourinho’s very first season in charge of Manchester United (2016/17), he led the team to win the UEFA Cup. United finished sixth in the Premier League that year and did not qualify for the Champions League, but because they won the UEFA Cup, they were able to advance to the Champions League.
This is an example of Wenger’s opposition to the rule.
To summarize:
- Wenger thinks that Manchester United and Tottenham shouldn’t be in the Champions League even if they win the UEFA Cup.
- This is because they are too low in the Premier League and no longer meet the criteria for the Champions League.
- UEFA rules allow UEFA Cup winners to play in the Champions League, but Wenger feels it’s unfair.
- Very few lowly teams in history have reached or won the UEFA Cup final.
- Manchester United, who relied on the UEFA Cup to reach the Champions League in 2017, is a prime example.
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