Jose Mourinho challenges Spurs to qualify for the Europa League and win his third title in three attempts

Jose Mourinho set his sights on winning the third Europa League title of his career after his Tottenham Hotspur side overtook Arsenal in the race for European qualification.

Tottenham’s North London derby victory moved them into eighth in the Premier League table, two points behind Sheffield United in seventh.

Mourinho accepted that Europe’s secondary competition is not a “great deal” for him or the club, comparing it to Lewis Hamilton competing in the second tier of motor racing.

But he said Tottenham would “obviously” challenge for the Europa League title next season, pointing out his previous victories in the competition with Porto (when it was known as the UEFA Cup) and Manchester United.

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“It is not a competition I am in love with,” said Mourinho. “It is not a competition I would like very much to play, but when you cannot play Champions League, you play Europa League. In my career I only played in the Europa League twice, and I won it twice.

“It would not be bad to play it a third time and win it a third time. We have to fight until the end to try to finish in a Europa League position.

“If you ask Lewis Hamilton if he wants to win Formula 2 or Formula 3000 or whatever you call it, I can see it not being a great deal for him, but it is a competition. I prefer to play Europa League than not to play [in it]. I think it is a title that Tottenham would obviously get.”

Meanwhile, Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta said the “small details” cost his team. “We gave them a goal again and we conceded a set piece,” Arteta said. “At that level, you cannot do it. We had total control but again the small details cost us and that is one of the biggest parts we have to improve as a team.”