Carlo: Spurs face exodus of stars

Posted Saturday, April 30, 2011 by The Sun

CARLO ANCELOTTI has warned Harry Redknapp he risks losing his stars if Tottenham miss out on a Champions League spot.

Redknapp's men have fallen four points behind fourth-placed Manchester City with just five games to go.

Ancelotti is ready to pile on the misery today for suffering Spurs, who have never won at Stamford Bridge in the Premier League.

And the Blues boss insisted: "Once you have had the smell of the Champions League, you want to play in it all the time.

"For Tottenham and all the other English teams at this level, to finish outside of the top four will make things much more difficult the next season.

"If they are not able to play in that competition next time, it will be harder to manage the team and more difficult to attract new players.

"I think they will also have more problems keeping their players because the Europa League is not the same thing.

"That is why at Chelsea our target is always to qualify for the Champions League."

Spurs have banked more than £30million from their European adventure, which ended when they lost to Real Madrid in the quarter-finals two weeks ago.

Now there is a danger that they might not even qualify for Europe next season after winning just one of their last seven Premier League fixtures.

If Chelsea win this afternoon and Liverpool beat Newcastle at home tomorrow, Kenny Dalglish's team will move up to fifth.

And Redknapp knows that stars such as Gareth Bale, Luka Modric and Rafael van der Vaart will not want to hang around if they are not involved in Europe at all.

So Ancelotti expects Redknapp to send his side out all guns blazing. The Blues chief added: "Tottenham are involved in the fight for fourth so they'll try to do everything against us.

"Tottenham always play attacking football and have many dangerous players going forward like Bale Lennon, Crouch and Van der Vaart.

"It should be a fantastic game to watch. Redknapp is a very good man and a very good coach. He has the ability, skill and experience to manage England.

"He has a good relationship with his players and that is important for any successful coach."

Fernando Torres and Didier Drogba have been working together in training this week.

But Torres is not expected to start as Chelsea look to put pressure on Manchester United by moving to within three points of the leaders.

GAMES TO GO - CHELSEA: May 8 Man Utd (a); 15 Newcastle (h); 22 Everton (a). TOTTENHAM: May 7 Blackpool (h); 10 Man City (a); 15 Liverpool (a); 22 Birmingham (h).