Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino admits that the Europa League may start to become a mental strain for the players from next campaign.

The club are on course to qualify for this competition for a fifth consecutive season. They had been hoping to reach the Champions League for only the second season in their history, but those hopes have been destroyed after two disappointing results against Burnley and Aston Villa. A goalless draw against Burnley has been followed up with a 1-0 defeat against Villa and it has effectively ended their hopes of a top four finish.

Europa league has been criticised for being too long a competition for the little prize money or prestige that it offers. This is set to change from next season onwards, as the winners of the Europa league not only get to play in the Champions League but they will also receive more prize money than ever before. Still, the large number of matches that one has to play in order to come close to winning the title will continue to be a major deterrent factor in making the competition attractive. Pochettino was brought into the club in order to take them to the next level. After a poor start, the club went on a great run in the middle of the campaign.

“It’s difficult.It was a very long season. When you do a whole season playing Thurs-Sunday and you are a young squad and you make the biggest effort during the season, maybe you arrive at the end at very difficult level.Not physically, but mentally, in a very difficult moment at the end of the season," said Pochettino when speaking about the possibility of returning back to the second-tier European competition. Spurs have already travelled to five different countries as part of this competition.