Antonio Conte‘s men were due to play the
French side in their final group match on December 9th but the game was called
off due to a Covid-19 outbreak in the Spurs squad.
Tottenham had been lying third in Group G
of the inaugural edition of the competition and would have needed to beat
Rennes in order to overtake Vitesse Arnhem and qualify for the play-off round.
However, Uefa have now ruled that a 3-0
will be awarded to Rennes, meaning that the North London outfit’s European
campaign is over.
As per the BBC, Uefa ‘regard the tie as
forfeited by Tottenham Hotspur FC, who is therefore deemed to have lost the
match 0-3 in accordance with Annex J.3.1 to the Regulations of the UEFA Europa
Conference League (2021-22 Season)’.
The news of Tottenham’s elimination from
Europe’s third-tier competition is likely to be met with mixed feelings among
the club’s supporters.
On the one hand, it represented an
opportunity for Spurs to win their first trophy since 2008 and their first
continental title since their Uefa Cup success in 1984.
Even though they had already lost two
matches in the group prior to the scheduled Rennes match, they would have been
among the favourites to lift the trophy had they made it through to the knock-out
stage, particularly with the trophy-winning experience of Conte to fall on.
On the other hand though, having no
European competition to contend with in the spring will mean less fixture
congestion as the club looks to seal a top four place and a return to the
Champions League for the first time since 2019/20.
On Sunday, Tottenham continued their
improvement under Conte by putting in an impressive performance in a 2-2 draw
at home to Liverpool.
Spurs remain undefeated in the Premier
League under the Italian and have climbed from ninth in the table to seventh
since he took over from Nuno Espirito Santo last month.
This is despite having three games
postponed due to weather and the aforementioned Covid-19 issues around the
squad. They now sit six points behind arch-rivals Arsenal in fourth, albeit
with three games in hand.