Champions League failures don’t deserve place in the Europa League say’s Villas-Boas

Tottenham manager Andre Villas-Boas has said his former club Chelsea and other Champions League failures do not deserve to be in the Europa League.

Chelsea enter the last 32 of the competition after finishing third in their Champions League group. With Tottenham having finished second in Group J, they will not be seeded in the second round of the competition, meaning they could face teams who have dropped down from the UEFA Champions League, such as Benfica and Olympiakos.

“You can’t give a bonus to teams who have failed,” said the Spurs boss after his side secured Europa League progress with a 3-1 win over Panathinaikos.

“I think it’s extremely unfair, It would be much fairer if the clubs came in to the Europa League when they are knocked out of the last 16 of the Champions League.

“You can’t give a bonus to teams who have failed, and in the situation as it stands, teams fail in the Champions League and are promoted to the Europa League, which, in my opinion, is a massive bonus.

Tottenham will not be able to take on their London rivals Chelsea in the next round as teams from the same country cannot face each other until the last 16.

Despite this, Villas-Boas believes the clubs could cross paths later in the competition.

“Sometimes it’s destiny,” he said. “Hopefully if we go through we can meet each other.