Altered Ambitions Complicate Tottenham Hotspur’s Champions League Return

Try telling anyone associated with Tottenham Hotspur the thrill of the chase is the best part.

Qualifying for the UEFA Champions League for just the second time in a decade—and only the third occasion in their existence—took five frustrating years. There was plenty to cheer about in between, sure, but the disappointment the north Londoners felt each time they failed to get back tarnished things somewhat.

Last season saw them finally do enough, and they kick off their latest participation against Monaco on Wednesday night. Yet, there is more than just having to play this and later home matches at Wembley that is complicating Tottenham’s return to the tournament.

Unlike the last time they were competing with Europe’s best, the Champions League is not the be-all and end-all of their short-term ambitions. Mauricio Pochettino’s team are hoping to have even more going for them this season.

Next stop, @wembleystadium. #MondayMotivation #COYS pic.twitter.com/Do3K6p4Fv1

— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) September 12, 2016

The boost of last weekend’s 4-0 win over Stoke City in the Premier League has meant Tottenham can focus on their Group E opener free (relatively) of unhelpful domestic uncertainties. That is a good thing, too, given Monaco have also started their own season unbeaten, defeating Lille 4-1 on Saturday (Russian opponents CSKA Moscow have also begun brightly, Bayer Leverkusen have won and lost one, two games into the new Bundesliga year).

For Spurs, the excitement at being back among the top tier after recent European adventures were confined to the Europa League is clear.

Up until the crushing conclusion at the hands of Real Madrid in the quarter-finals, their most recent experience in 2010-11 was a terrific one.

After coming so close to qualifying at the end of 2005-06, they fell short of the top four a year later and suffered further setbacks. The appointment of Harry Redknapp as manager in late 2008 set them back on the right path and, just over a year-and-a-half later, they finally made it.

“Yet our adventure against the elite of Europe was almost over before it had begun,” Redknapp remembered in his autobiography Always Managing. “At 3-0 down in the first leg of our qualifying game, understandably, I feared the worst.”

Spurs had not adapted well to the artificial pitch at Swiss side Young Boys’ Stade de Suisse ground. They reduced the deficit to one, though, and back at White Hart Lane won 4-0 to comfortably progress on aggregate.

From there, a 2-2 draw with Werder Bremen began the group stage, before FC Twente were dispatched 4-1 (future Spur Nacer Chadli scoring their reply). Then things got interesting.

Playing reigning Champions League holders Inter Milan away at the San Siro, Spurs conceded three before half-time and were down to 10 men after goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes was sent off. The prospect of an even more embarrassing defeat than that suffered at Young Boys was on the horizon.

Instead they commendably fought back—eventually losing 4-3—in large part thanks to the extraordinary efforts of a certain Gareth Bale.

The Welshman followed up a hat-trick in Italy with another devastating performance in the return game. Though Bale did not join Rafael van der Vaart, Peter Crouch and Roman Pavlyuchenko on the scoresheet, his torturing of Inter right-back Maicon has ensured it is the now-Real Madrid star who is most synonymous with the night.

After finishing top of their group, Spurs drew Serie A opposition again in the last-16, facing AC Milan.

After their previous haphazard effort in the San Siro, they tightened up and sealed a heroic defensive display when Aaron Lennon set up …

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