'I played 236 games for Tottenham and Arsenal were never really our rivals - another club were'

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Chelsea dealt a damaging blow to Tottenham 's survival hopes this week, over a decade since their famous 'Battle of the Bridge' clash. The Blues defeated Spurs 2-1 on Wednesday to ensure the north London side will fight to keep their Premier League status on the final day of the season.

The two sides have been engaged in many compelling battles over the years with their heated 2016 fixture at Stamford Bridge ranking above all. It was a period of time where Spurs were definitively better than Arsenal which led Tottenham hero Toby Alderweireld to claim it was Chelsea who were their main rivals instead of the Gunners.

Spurs were aiming to keep their title hopes alive when they travelled to west London and what occurred was one of the dirtiest games in Premier League history. There were 12 yellow cards brandished with nine of them shown to Spurs' outfield players in the 2-2 draw which saw Leicester City be crowned champions.

The retired Belgian star played 236 games in six years for the club and he opened up about the fateful night at the Bridge. Speaking to The Times , he said: "The pressure had been building for a couple of weeks and all the attention meant everyone was so fired up.

"At that time we were always above Arsenal so for me that was not really the rivalry, it was much more Chelsea. With VAR you wouldn’t get a game like that now.

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"Maybe I’m a nostalgic guy, but that was the beauty of no VAR." The 37-year-old said it was the "craziest" match of football he's ever played. He added: "I was the only one who didn’t get a yellow!"

"I think it was the craziest game I ever played. Foul, foul, the game always standing still and the yellow cards. You could feel the game from the first duel, the first foul, it’s like ‘Oh that was a nasty one’. Straight away."

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Over a decade since then, the tables have drastically turned in north London as Arsenal were officially named Premier League champions following Manchester City's draw at Bournemouth on Tuesday night.

It'll be a party atmosphere at the Gunners' last match of the season against Crystal Palace whereas Spurs will need to earn at least a point against Everton to ensure survival and relegate West Ham .

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There's been contrasting fortunes across the London-based top-flight teams with Arsenal possessing the opportunity to earn further success through their Champions League final against Paris Saint-Germain.