Collina Masterclass SKY Sports 1

[Davey_g08]

There was precedent in Spain I think about the 4th placed team just being thrown out when Madrid won the CL. I agree it was totally a fix, but the fact we were allowed in was down to past events. Had it been spurs 4th and Liverpool 5th and winning it, there would have been no hesitation in telling spurs to do one. It's only because of the acrimony and potential trouble due to what happened in the 80s that we were given that qualifier to pacify us in the first place. They (the fa who made the decision to enter us ahead of Liverpool before Uefa let them in) actually pandered to us, possibly out of fear of what our fans would do the next season due to old fashioned worries. The precedent was there to just say 'sorry we're entering Liverpool'

It wasn't a precedent, that was just the Spanish FA changing the rules to suit their own finances. The rules were pretty clear at the time that 4th place got in the Champions League and that was that. UEFA even asked the FA to kick us out but they said that they were not willing to break the rules. If it was Spurs who finished 5th, it would have been exactly the same as those were the rules at the time.