Poch on how his history with Guardiola will affect the tie against Man City

Mauricio Pochettino and Pep Guardiola certainly have in-depth knowledge of each other having done battle in both Spain and England.

The pair faced off numerous times in the Catalan derby, first as players, then as managers.

Although Guardiola has had the upper hand in the contests, the Espanyol team managed by Pochettino has beaten Guardiola’s Barcelona and pushed them close on several other occasions.

While Pochettino admitted that Barcelona had superior quality on the pitch, he said he always set his teams up to take the game to them.

The managers will face off once again on Tuesday night in a massive stage, as Spurs take on City in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-final at the new Tottenham Hotspur stadium.

Pochettino confirmed that tonight is going to be no different to previous meetings between him and Guardiola as his Spurs team will look to attack Man City right from the start.

Speaking during the pre-match press conference, the Argentine told Football.London, “During four years we met in Spain, we played a lot of games against each other, it was always tough to play Barcelona.

“Of course we tried to make all the games difficult. They know, and he knows, we’re brave, we like to go forward, be aggressive, be protagonists.

“Of course after the quality of the players on the pitch is going to put the victory on Guardiola’s side but we’re going to try to be aggressive, the protagonists and try to beat them.

“It’s difficult to say we will plan and wait for them because that’s always in our mind. I remember we met for the first time in Montujic, 0-0 in Copa del Rey ten years ago.

“You could see the way we wanted to play. We know they have so much talent and they are so good, but being brave and trying to win the game that’s our challenge and tomorrow is going to be the same.”

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