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Tottenham Hotspur finishing third in the table last season and qualifying automatically for the group stages of the Champions League was a phenomenal achievement. It marks only the second time that Spurs have participated in Europe’s top competition, and the first time in six years.
None of the current Tottenham squad have been in the Champions League with Tottenham, so it’s new for just about everyone. For Harry Kane, it’s especially important, and he made a bold claim about Spurs’ run in the tournament on Tottenham’s website: it’s not enough for Spurs just to participate. They want to progress.
“It’s what the club has always been aiming for and that was the aim at the start of last season, to get into the Champions League, and we managed that. It isn’t just about participating in the Champions League, though, we want to progress, do as well as we can, keep getting better and hopefully go as far as we can in the competition.
Tottenham’s chances in the Champions League could come down to the group stage draw, which takes place on Friday, August 26. Spurs are expected to be in Pot 3, which means they could end up in an extremely tough group. That doesn’t seem to faze Kane, however, who says his club is ready for the step up in European competition and to face some of the best teams in European football.
“It’ll be a challenge. We’ll be playing better teams and they’re tougher games so it maybe takes a little bit more out of you but that’s part of it. If you want to be a top team you have to be able to cope with that and deal with it so we’ll have to manage that throughout the season.”
Kane said that after a very short summer break necessitated due to England’s participation in the Euros this summer, he’s ready to get back on the pitch against Inter Milan in Norway, Spurs’ final warm-up match before the start of the Premier League season.
“Some of us haven’t played too much football lately and we’re looking forward to getting started with the game on Friday and getting back into the swing of things. It obviously feels like a while since I last played a game but it’s exciting times now, we’ve got a good week of training ahead with the team and now everyone’s back from Australia we’re looking forward to the game in Norway. I can’t wait to get out there and start playing again.”