Tottenham Hotspur put one foot into the quarter finals of this year’s Champions League as they smashed three goals past Borussia Dortmund at Wembley last night.
Both sides went into the match with depleted teams through injury, with Spurs missing Harry Kane, Dele Alli, and both first team left backs Danny Rose and Ben Davies.
Perhaps the left back crisis was a blessing in disguise, as makeshift left wing-back Jan Vertonghen assisted one, scored one, and took home the man of the match award.
Despite winning three nil, Spurs didn’t actually start the match all that well, with Dortmund proving to be the better side in the first 45.
However, Pochettino made some tactical changes in the second half, without moving around his personnel or the basic formation of the team.
Spurs upped the intensity, pressed high up the pitch, and defended as a tight unit, doubling up on danger man Jadon Sancho.
Poch was asked post match what he said to his players at half time (Football London): “The first half was very difficult, first of all because we never felt the confidence to play. We took some rash decisions. It’s like we weren’t comfortable. We didn’t feel what we planned to play. But after fixing some problems, showing them some clips at half-time and talking a little about different positions, offensive and defensive and trying to help the team to perform better. Also a bit lucky because it was a massive confidence boost when Sonny score made the team play much better. We deserved the victory in the end. It was a massive victory and the players deserve all the credit. They were fantastic. To play after Sunday with one day less recovery we need to praise them. They’ve won the possibility to have a few days off.”
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