Tottenham Hotspur booked their place for a pivotal match at the Camp Nou in the Champions League by defeating Inter Milan 1-0 last night.
The knock out stages effectively started for Spurs yesterday evening, as they would likely need a win against both Milan and Barca to stand a chance of qualification.
The 1-0 victory over Inter, courtesy of a second half Christian Eriksen strike, sent Tottenham leapfrogging over the Italians into second place in the group.
As PSV have already secured bottom spot in the group, it seems extremely unlikely that Inter will get anything but a win in their final game.
Spurs must match or better any point haul the Italians manage, meaning a win away to Barcelona will probably be the aim of the game.
The only saving grace is that Barca have already qualified top of the group, so many rest their big names come the final group stage match.
Pochettino commented on Spurs’ hopes, and whether Barca would rest players.
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Football London report he said: “All is possible in football. We have big respect for Barcelona, one of the best teams in Europe. Of course, they have unbelievable players and it’ll be so tough. But one thing we have is our belief and faith we can win.
“We only need to show again a good level to compete at our best. To arrive at Barcelona and compete in our best we need to have fresh legs, fresh minds, no injuries. To arrive in that way in Barcelona we need to manage and we need to rotate the squad.
“If not the demands of the Premier League are so tough. We’re playing Champions League and the cup against Arsenal at the Emirates. Every three days playing games is so tough – so tough for us but for our players so so difficult. They’re not going to have one day off until January.
“I expect they’ll play with the best players but today I don’t know how they’ll prepare the game. We need to think about us, prepare for the game in the best way, and try to believe we can win. What Barcelona do is not in our hands. But of course in the Champions League, no one is going to give a present and playing and not care about the result.
“It’s going to be very competitive but of course they’re qualified in first with 13 points. Us and Inter can only arrive with 10 points. All is possible in football. But now we need to focus on Arsenal on Sunday, another massive game for us.”
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