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.

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."

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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 Peter Crouch for the winner. A 0-0 draw in the home leg sent them through before a disastrous start away at Real Madrid would prove costly.

Still, despite the ending, Spurs had plenty to be proud of.

"We played fantastic, open football, and took the game to our opponents wherever we went," a proud Redknapp recalled in his book. "Manchester City struggled in the Champions League in their first two seasons, and people said it was a lack of experience, but that was our first season, too, and we played with absolutely no fear."

Unfortunately for Redknapp and Spurs, where Man City were able to repeatedly get back into the competition from then on, they again began to fall short.

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Tired through their efforts in 2010-11, they ended up fifth in the league. A season later—Redknapp's last—strong form in the first five months fell away heading into spring, though even then they only missed out because of Chelsea winning the tournament itself.

The next year, Andre Villas-Boas took Spurs to a Premier League-era points high but was pipped by Arsenal on the final day. A subsequent slow start cost the Portuguese his job, and the midseason replacement Tim Sherwood did not get close. His successor, Pochettino, was left with more of a rebuild and the eventual fifth-place finish at least showed signs of promise.

That was fulfilled in the Argentinian's second season. But after all the managerial changes, expensive squad overhauls, headaches and heartaches, it ended up as something of an afterthought.

Save for a short while in the middle of 2011-12—when the likes of Bale, Luka Modric and Van der Vaart worked together in thrilling fashion to put Spurs within touching distance—a title challenge had never come close. Champions League football was not the limit of the club's ambition, but little seemed possible without the advantages of funding and status of sustained qualification it brings.

Yet, last season Pochettino's team were in contention for the Premier League crown right up until the final month. Leicester City had too much in the end but that Spurs were their only legitimate rivals said a lot.

While also-rans from that contest like Liverpool and Manchester City have begun 2016-17 strongly, Tottenham's win over Stoke was a reminder their credentials remain considerable. The squad has been strengthened, and with young talents such as Dele Alli, Eric Dier (the latest to sign a new contract, see below), Christian Eriksen and Harry Kane still having room to grow, it stands to reason they could get better.

Is it the case now, then, that the Champions League will be a distraction to their domestic aspirations?

In talking about the need to improve his playing staff earlier this summer and in May, Pochettino was of the belief it would be a more demanding extra-curricular activity than the Europa League.

"The Champions League demands a lot of energy, more than the Europa League," he said upon confirming qualification in the spring. "It is a very different competition, it is for that we need to be sure that we have a strong squad to compete in all competitions."

Redknapp did not value the second-tier competition as a worthwhile comparison, viewing it as a drain on resources better deployed trying to get back to the main event. Spurs have upgraded their targets since then, so similar logic could feasibly apply.

Unsurprisingly, that is unlikely to be the case.

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While the chances of them even coming close to winning it are a long shot, Pochettino and the current Tottenham crop's thinking will be more in line with the famous quote from the club's legendary manager Bill Nicholson: "It is better to fail aiming high than to succeed aiming low. And we of Spurs have set our sights very high, so high in fact that even failure will have in it an echo of glory."

After coming so close last time out, giving their best in another title shot is a must. But for the club in general and the individuals that have got them there, making the most of this latest European adventure is an opportunity too good to pass up.

"I think it's very important because it was a target in the beginning of the season," Pochettino said in May, despite the disappointment of losing out to Leicester being felt more at that point. For the Argentinian it is a big landmark in his career, the significance of which Redknapp certainly appreciated for himself.

"Managing in the Champions League was one of the greatest experiences of my professional life," the veteran coach said in his autobiography of his sole year doing so.

Spurs' proximity to the top-four was significant in attracting top players like Hugo Lloris and Jan Vertonghen in the first place. One of this summer's recruits, Moussa Sissoko, admitted it was a big reason why he joined the club.

"I've said a lot of times that I want to play in the Champions League so that’s one of the reasons why I came here—to have the possibility and the chance to play this year," the France international told his new side's official website.

For the players—purchased or homegrown—it is a chance to test their ability in a different environment.

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"Most teams are attacking sides and usually the best team from their respective countries," then-Spur Bale told Martin Cloake and Adam Powley in The Glory Glory Nights (2012). "That's why everyone wants to play in it, because it's the best standard of football in the club game and the most entertaining."

Being optimistic, participation in it could be the making of this group.

If things go well it will create more memories to join those of 2010-11. It could also boost self-belief they are a team capable of competing for major honours.

It is a shame such hoped-for recollections, for the fans and staff, will not once more be with a White Hart Lane backdrop, a final European-night entry into this version of the stadium's storied history.

"I think it's the crowd, the fact that the fans are right on top of you," Bale said to Cloake and Powley of the home games last time. "The atmosphere is just unbelievable."

The plus side is Wembley will afford more fans the chance to witness events. The club confirmed last week over 80,000 tickets had been sold for the Monaco match.

The team have already trained at the national stadium to get accustomed to their temporary surroundings, while the England internationals are already well familiar with the venue.

It is up to them all now to not only show they can match their predecessors' Champions League achievements, but that they can do so while again proving they are one of the best in the Premier League, too.

Quotes obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.