Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City come to blows tonight in the only all-English Champions League quarter final affair.
Spurs edged the first leg 1-0, but it’s all about the final result in the Champions League, as only the winner on aggregate will go through to face Ajax in the semi finals.
Tottenham have never made it that far in the competition, with their only other quarter final appearance ending in defeat at the hands of Real Madrid back in 2011.
Despite not having won a trophy as a manager, and Tottenham’s 11 year wait for a trophy, Pochettino insists that it isn’t about the result tomorrow night.
He claimed that he did not want to think about winning or losing, but putting in a performance that was good enough to give his team a chance.
He spoke of his pride in his team no matter what, and that he hoped Tottenham could reach the semis, but if not, he would congratulate Man City.
This was a nice, dignified response to a press conference question, compared to the slightly arrogant Pep Guardiola equivalent in which he simply claimed he thought City would beat Tottenham and reach the semis.
MORE SPURS STORIES
Pep said (Sky Sports): “If you ask me what is going to happen, we’ll be in the semi-finals; that is what I feel right now. It’s what I felt right after the game and when I reviewed the game. Maybe I’m wrong but what I feel now, we’ll be in the semi-finals.”
Poch said (Football London): “I am not thinking about win or lose tomorrow. We are so focused in trying to be ready to fight, challenge them, try to enjoy and be sure we will perform in the way that we want. Maybe that is strange, but that is my point. That is my view and how I feel. I am not thinking win or lose, we are thinking about trying to arrive in the best condition and the most for us is to perform in the way we want to perform. If we perform in the way we want, for sure we are going to have the possibility of the semi-finals. It’s a massive race and it’s so far away – maybe some 24 hours. In that type of competition you must be focused on your performance because all that is going to happen after the game is going to be related to your performance, your belief and the way you prepare. A lot of circumstance you cannot affect because you cannot affect the referee decision, some issue, VAR, penalty or no penalty, red card or no red card. You cannot spend energy on that and thinking after it was a massive mistake. What happens tomorrow we are going to feel so proud and we hope we will be in the semi-finals. If not, we will congratulate Manchester City because they deserve to be there.”
Keep up to date with all the latest Tottenham news and opinion by following SpursWeb’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts.
