Hugo Lloris tells Tottenham to ‘find the solution’ ahead of Chelsea clash after their Champions League exit to Monaco

Lloris was Tottenham's star man against Monaco, saving a penalty and pulling off multiple world class saves
REUTERS
Tom Collomosse23 November 2016

Hugo Lloris urged his Tottenham team-mates to find the answers to their poor European form after questioning whether they are good enough to compete on two fronts.

After fighting for nine months to qualify automatically for the Champions League, Spurs have been eliminated from it after just five matches, following the 2-1 defeat at Monaco last night/on Tuesday.

Lloris produced a superb performance but could not save his team, whose only European football for the rest of the season will be in the Europa League, provided they can avoid defeat against CSKA Moscow at Wembley on December 7 to claim third place in the group.

“We will talk between ourselves and try to find solution,” said Lloris. “Maybe we are not ready to manage Premier League and Champions League campaigns at the same time, but we need to question ourselves about that.

“Everyone at the club was excited to play this competition, and all the players too but we failed all together. We had bigger expectations in this group stage. We will not go through, we are still fighting for a Europa League but it’s not enough for a club like Spurs. It’s a big disappointment.

“It makes for a lot of frustration, I can’t hide that. We need to digest this and look forward to the game at Chelsea on Saturday.”

Needing to avoid defeat to keep alive their Champions League, Tottenham surprisingly left Jan Vertonghen and Kyle Walker – two of their best defenders – on the bench in Monaco, presumably with the match at Stamford Bridge in mind.

As he left the ground, Vertonghen confirmed he would have been fit to start the match and while Walker was non-committal, it did appear an unnecessary gamble by manager Mauricio Pochettino.

“It is a question for the manager,” added Lloris. “We know we have a good squad and sometimes it can happen that the manager rotates, but that kind of thing shouldn’t affect the team because we have enough quality in the squad.”

If Tottenham avoid defeat against CSKA at Wembley, they will go into the draw for the knockout stages of the Europa League. Very few tickets are available for that tie, though with little riding on the game, it remains to be seen how close the attendance will be to the stadium’s 90,000 capacity.

Should Tottenham reach the Europa League, will they play their home games at Wembley or White Hart Lane? The club are trying to establish whether UEFA rules would permit them to return to White Hart Lane after losing both their Champions League matches at the national stadium.

Monaco vs Tottenham: In Pictures

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While the ground was sold out for the meetings with Monaco and Bayer Leverkusen, it is doubtful whether Spurs would attract similar crowds for a Europa League tie against unglamorous opposition.

Defender Kevin Wimmer told Standard Sport: “It is a big honour to play at Wembley as the atmosphere is so amazing. White Hart Lane is our home ground and everyone is comfortable there.

“But if we play in the Europa League, it doesn’t matter where we play, as we want to show we can compete in every stadium. It is always nice to play at Wembley and we cannot blame it for the results.

“It felt so good to play in front of 90,000, and it wouldn’t be right if we said we lost just because we played at Wembley. We like to play at White Hart Lane but Wembley is also very good for us.”

You can follow Saturday's clash between Chelsea and Tottenham live on Standard Sport. Click here to find out how.

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