Tottenham will not panic as they look to dump Juventus out of the Champions League insists Mauricio Pochettino
Spurs need to avoid defeat or a high-scoring draw to progress to the last eight
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Your support makes all the difference.On Wednesday night Tottenham Hotspur will host Juventus, a side who have won the last six Serie A titles in a row and lost two of the last three Champions League finals. They are as serious as it gets in European football.
But there is no trepidation at Spurs about the game, no nerves. Since Chelsea in August, every good team to come to Wembley to play them has been sent straight back: Liverpool, Borussia Dortmund, Real Madrid, Manchester United and Arsenal. All Spurs have to do this week - and this sounds easier than it is - is avoid a defeat or a high-scoring draw, and they will be in the Champions League quarter-finals. Not bad for a homeless team with a restrictive wage structure.
So Mauricio Pochettino and his team know the importance of not being over-motivated or tense. The onus is on Juventus. Spurs just have to enjoy it.
“I think we need to be relaxed now and try to prepare the best game in the best way,” Pochettino said. “Like all the games. It doesn’t change because it’s Champions League or an important game. For me, all the games are important. The approach must be the same.”
Last season Spurs looked scared of the Champions League but this year they have looked ready for it. It is a change that shows this team is still growing and improving.
“I think for me we are going to enjoy the game,” Pochettino said. “We deserve to be there. Enjoy, and not put drama on this game. It’s only to try to enjoy and be free and try to perform in the best way.”
But there is no getting past the fact that this is huge for Spurs. Get through this and they are two games away from their first ever Champions League semi-final, and the slim promise of the most remarkable vindication for their four years of steady progress under Pochettino. When asked, he did not want to be drawn on whether this was the biggest match of his career. Before admitting that it was level best.
“Maybe yes, maybe no, I don’t know,” Pochettino said. “I think it’s important, yes, like when we play the [2015 League Cup] final against Chelsea. Or when you play a semi-final of the FA Cup. Or when you win a big game in the Premier League.”
Of course Spurs are not blasé about Juventus, how could they be, but they know that their own best football, at home, is difficult to stop. Especially with Harry Kane, Dele Alli and Christian Eriksen playing this well.
“No, the team is not going to [panic],” Pochettino said. “Look, it’s a game that we are going to play and we are going to try to perform in the best way, to try to be close to winning. Of course, we are going to play one of the best teams, or clubs, in Europe. Of course it will be very tough. But I think we are going to arrive in a perfect condition to challenge them.”
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