London: Tottenham turned to Jose Mourinho to try and maintain their status as a Champions League club, but a terrible start to the Premier League season leaves the Portuguese with a mountain to climb either domestically or in Europe.
Mourinho's appointment was not a universally popular one with the Spurs' support given his past as a two-time Chelsea manager.
He managed to make the right first impression by securing Tottenham's first away win in the Premier League since January with a 3-2 victory at West Ham on Saturday that was far more comprehensive that the scoreline suggested.
A vital three points cut the gap between Mourinho's men and the top four to nine points, but strong starts from Liverpool, Leicester, Manchester City and Chelsea mean one of them will have to falter significantly in the coming months to open the door to Spurs.
The fact that Mourinho's deal signed last week reportedly contains a dollar 2 million bonus for making the top four is an illustration of how tough a task it will be.
Could winning the Champions League for the first time in the club's history actually be Spurs' best way to secure the riches and prestige of Europe's premier club competition for a fifth consecutive season? Under Mauricio Pochettino, who was sacked after five-and-a-half years in charge last week, Tottenham improved each year in Europe and last season fell just one hurdle short after a dramatic run to Champions League final.
Despite their dreadful domestic form and a 7-2 thrashing at home to Bayern Munich last month, Pochettino left with his side well-placed to reach the last 16 once more.
Victory over Olympiakos in Mourinho's home debut on Tuesday will secure their passage into the knockout stages.
"I think we can go and win that match at home and qualify in the Champions League," said Mourinho, who has a proud record of always qualifying from the Champions League group stages in spells as Porto, Chelsea, Inter Milan, Real Madrid and Manchester United.
A rejuvenated Spurs could certainly cause problems for some of Europe's more fancied sides come the new year as they showed in shocking City and Ajax on their way to last season's final.
MATCHDAY 5
POSSIBLE SCENARIOS
With Champions League Matchday 5 scheduled today and tomorrow, FPJ’s Viransh Shah looks at all the permutations in each Group for teams those are on the cusp of qualification and elimination.
Group A:
➤ If Real Madrid beat Paris Saint-Germain at home they will qualify for the Round of 16 with the current group-toppers. A draw or loss for Madrid will give Club Brugge hope, if they can beat Galatasaray.
Group B:
➤ Tottenham Hotspur will aim for a victory against Greek club Olympiacos. Under their new manager Jose Mourinho Tottenham will aim to excel in Champions League. A win will see Tottenham join Bayern Munich in the round of 16. Crvena Zvezda faces a challenge against German leaders Bayern Munich. A win is a must for the Serbians if they are to stand any chance of qualifying, while they also need other results to go their way.
Group C
➤ Manchester City leads Group C with 10 points, and only needs one point to be the first English team to qualify for Round of 16 this season. Shaktar Donetsk, who face the Citizens, sit in second place in the group. They are level on points with Dinamo Zagreb. A loss for Shaktar and a win for Zagreb simplifies the contention for the second spot. If both Shaktar and Zagreb secure wins then no team in the group will qualify until Matchday 6.
Group D
➤ Atletico Madrid visit Turin to play Juventus. A win against the Old Lady will guarantee the Spanish club their place in the knockout round. If Atletico drops points then they will face serious contention from the winner between Lokomotiv Moscow and Bayer 04 Leverkusen.
Group E
➤ Reigning champions Liverpool will face Napoli on Matchday 5, where a win for either will see them qualify. If Red Bull Salzburg loses to Genk FC then both Liverpool and Napoli will qualify for the round of 16. A win for Red Bull will leave the group's final spot open through to Matchday 6.
Group F
➤ The winner of the match between Barcelona and Borussia Dortmund will sail into the last 16 pool. If Barca and Dortmund draw, while Inter Milan secures a victory against Slavia Praha, then Group F will be wide open for any of the top three teams to qualify on Matchday 6. Inter Milan cannot afford to drop points - a draw or loss to Slavia Praha will leave them on the brink of elimination.
Group G
➤If Lyon and RB Leipzig win their respective games against Zenit and Benfica, both teams qualify together for the knockout stage.
➤ If both Lyon and Leipzig happen to lose their fixtures then it will blow the group open for Matchday 6. If Lyon loses to Zenit while Leipzig wins or draws, then both teams will have to wait for their final clashes to decide who joins Leipzig in the final 16 group.
Group H
➤ A win for Ajax against bottom-placed Lille will land them in the Round of 16. A loss will or draw will leave them hanging onto the result from the Valencia and Chelsea game. Ajax visit Valencia on Matchday 6. If both fixtures in Group H turn out to be draws, then Valencia, Chelsea and Ajax will go into Matchday 6 level on 8 points, and with everything to play for.
Mourinho labelled himself "humble" on his return to management after 11 months out of the game last week, but was quick to point out in his first media briefing that, unlike Tottenham, he had never lost a Champions League final.
