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Football London
Football London
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Tashan Deniran-Alleyne

Why the date of Tottenham's Europa League decider against Wolfsberger has been changed

Tottenham Hotspur are in Europa League action on Wednesday evening when they welcome Wolfsberger AC to north London.

Usually, games in this competition take place on a Thursday - as was the case last week when Spurs were convincing 4-1 winners in the round of 32 first-leg tie.

Although, there has been a slight change in the scheduling with the second leg at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium now taking place 24 hours earlier than what many have come to expect when it comes to the Europa League.

But why are Tottenham playing on a night that is usually reserved for action from the round of 16 stage in the UEFA Champions League?

Well, the answer is very simple. It's because, at the time of the round of 32 draw, Spurs' north London rivals Arsenal were expected to play their second leg against Benfica a few short miles away at the Emirates Stadium.

As a result, UEFA didn't want two teams from the same city in action on the same day.

The change of date was announced by Spurs on the day it was revealed that they had been paired with the Austrian outfit back in December.

"Please note, our second leg at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium will take place on Wednesday 24 February, kick-off 5pm UK , due to Arsenal's involvement in the competition," a statement on Spurs' official website read.

With Arsenal's game against Benfica no longer taking place in north London due to coronavirus restrictions, there's a case that Spurs vs Wolfsberger could have been moved back to Thursday evening.

However, given the Europa League venue changes were only confirmed on February 12, it's likely that UEFA didn't feel the need to make further alterations.

First-leg goals from Son Heung-min, Gareth Bale, Lucas Moura, and Carlos Vinicius means Spurs are in full control ahead of the second leg, but Jose Mourinho says his side won't be taking it easy against Wolfsberger.

"We want of course to qualify, that’s the most important thing," he said in his pre-match press conference. "But when you in a bad run of results you need victories and I believe what everybody wants in that dressing room is not just to qualify, but to win the match.

"In football anything is possible and you always have to be respecting the nature of football and the nature of sport and know anything can happen.

"But the reality is a 4-1 victory away is very good.

"So it’s not about losing 3-0 or 2-0 and qualifying, it’s about qualifying and winning the match. So our approach will be very similar to the first leg. We go there with a strong side.

"We go with a bench to help us turn the direction of a game if we need to and at the same time with three or four young players we would love to give the chance to play minutes with the first team, but our first team line up will be very similar to the one that started in Hungary because we want to go strong.

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