With Wolves heading to Barcelona with a 4-0 win on their backs, they look dead-certain to be in final 16 of the Europa League.
The Premier League isn’t going bad, either. Right now, Nuno Espirito Santo’s side are just five points off Chelsea in fourth, and two points off Manchester United in fifth – a position which could be enough to qualify for the Champions League if Manchester City’s European ban is upheld.
It’s fair to say things are going pretty well for the club. At the beginning of the season, supporters would’ve been seen as greedy asking for this much, but they continue to march on.
Part of Nuno’s philosophy is for his team to never get carried away; one game at a time. Always. And it seems that has fully trickled down to his players.
One of the stars of the first leg, Ruben Neves – who scored arguably their goal of the season with an emphatic volley against Espanyol – has come out and said that the club are not even thinking about Europe’s premier competition just yet.
He said (via Sports Mole): “We can’t talk about it at this moment. It’s a very good moment but we have our feet on the ground.
“We know what we’re capable of but we have to be focused on our competitions to keep our pace. It’s not fair to think about it at the moment.
“Our philosophy is always game-by-game. After we’ll look to the Premier League. It’s not the moment to speak about the Champions League.”
What stage will we reach in the Europa League?
Quarter Final
Round of 16
Semi Final
Final
It might not make a good headline, but Neves is saying all the right things by not getting carried away.
Currently, they are in a fantastic position, but how their season will be defined depends on what happens from now – and right now it suits Wolves to be underdogs.
Plenty of people fancy Wolves to be as good as both Manchester United and Arsenal in terms of the Europa League, and many also think they have the capabilities of reaching the top five, but they have the privilege of not having the pressure that the other sides do.
Additionally, bigging up the possibility of reaching the Champions League would be undermining Nuno’s mantra. The club have gotten this far by not looking too far ahead, so why should they change that now?
