Hugo Lloris: Tottenham top-four finish 'means more than a trophy' to Spurs

Lloris celebrates Tottenham sealing Champions League football
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Jonathan Hunn10 May 2018

Hugo Lloris says finishing in the top four means "more than a trophy" after Tottenham booked a third successive season of Champions League football with a 1-0 win against Newcastle.

Chelsea’s 1-1 draw with Huddersfield left Spurs four points clear of their rivals before the final day of the season, and ensured they will finish as London’s top club for the first time in 23 years.

It is now more than 10 years since Spurs won a major prize but Lloris echoed views expressed by Arsene Wenger, who repeatedly said a top-four finish was more important than silverware during Arsenal’s eight barren years from 2005.

"It means more than a trophy," the Spurs captain told the BBC. "We can be proud of our season.

"It’s been tough, especially because we feel we’ve played 37 games away from home.

"You can say whatever you want but Wembley is not our stadium. We tried our best and to finish above Arsenal and Chelsea means a lot."

After a sluggish first half, Harry Kane’s winner came just five minutes after the restart and Jan Vertonghen has revealed that Spurs raised the tempo when they learned Chelsea were trailing.

"It was a massive result," Vertonghen said. "At half-time, we just needed one goal and we heard about Chelsea being down 1-0. We took some energy from that and the second half was better.

"It’s not like the gaffer told us - I don’t even know who I heard it from - but we knew if we had a better result than Chelsea it was a good day for us.

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"We’re very happy. Getting into the Champions League again after a tough, physical year playing away from home is a great achievement."

Vertonghen was named in the PFA Team of the Year after a stand-out season, and the 31-year-old defender believes he has had his best campaign since joining Spurs in summer 2012.

"I’ve worked a lot on my physical abilities," he said. "This is the first actual season I’ve been able to play almost every game. I’m very happy and I think it’s my best season.

"Tottenham is in a very good place. You always ask me whether we need to win a trophy and I always say you need to win one to win a lot more. We need our first one and the rest will follow.

"We’re going for that. We’re happy with the way our season has gone and we want to improve next season."

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