De Zerbi has raised the stakes ahead of the final day of the season, insisting that staying in the Premier League is a bigger achievement than winning European silverware. Spurs find themselves in the unthinkable position of fighting for their top-flight lives just a year after competing on the continent's big stage.
"Sunday is the final for Tottenham, not in Bilbao against Man United [last season], but this is the most important game," the Italian said. "We play for something more important than the trophy - the pride, the history of the club, the dignity are more important than the trophy. The trophy you can win, but the most important thing is to keep the dignity, to keep the pride."
While rivals Arsenal celebrate ending their 22-year title drought, the tension has ramped up in the white half of north London following a damaging 2-1 defeat to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday night. A long-range strike from Enzo Fernandez and a second-half goal from Andrey Santos left Spurs reeling, and despite a late Richarlison strike, they were unable to find the equaliser that would have practically guaranteed safety.
The result leaves Tottenham just two points clear of 18th-placed West Ham going into the final weekend. While De Zerbi’s side boast a vastly superior goal difference, the psychological pressure is mounting as they prepare to host Everton, with the Hammers facing Leeds United on the final matchday. Emphasising the stakes, De Zerbi added: "I have lived the last 45 days just for one thing. Every one of the players, their focus is on the target [of survival] - they are working harder during the week and every one of us wants to achieve that goal."
James Maddison impressed off the bench for Spurs, but De Zerbi later noted that the midfielder is still limited to 20-minute cameos while recovering from an ACL injury. Even in his brief stint, Maddison's creative spark nearly rescued a point late on when Micky van de Ven appeared to be fouled in the box by Marc Cucurella.
Despite heavy protests from the Spurs players, referee Stuart Attwell ruled that the ball was not in play when the contact occurred. De Zerbi, however, refused to use the incident as an excuse for the defeat. "If we talk about the penalty then we lose focus and we lose energy. My focus is on the best 11 I can get and to prepare them in the best way. It's a big day for us," he noted, while praising the "fantastic" support of the traveling fans.
While Spurs occupy the crisis headlines, Chelsea interim boss Calum McFarlane was pleased with how his side responded to their recent FA Cup final loss. Despite resting key men like Reece James and Levi Colwill due to fitness concerns, the Blues did enough to secure the London derby bragging rights and push their rivals closer to the trapdoor.
"It was good to get the win," McFarlane said. "It was obvious from minute one that we didn't always have the energy we needed after the psychological and physical load the FA Cup final put on us. I thought we deserved the 2-0 lead, and Spurs showed more energy towards the end. They had more time to prepare for the game. We just needed to dig in for the result."