Poch: now he must deliver
CRUCIAL TIE: SPURS TAKE ON A FLYING DORTMUND SIDE
London
Mauricio Pochettino faces a defining moment in his Tottenham reign as the in-demand Argentine tries to keep his bid for a first major prize alive against Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League tonight.
Pochettino has taken to defending his failure to win silverware in almost five years at Tottenham by insisting he values qualification for Europe’s elite club competition more highly than success in the domestic cups.
Now Bundesliga leaders Dortmund, who visit Wembley for the Champions League last-16 first leg, stand between Pochettino and his first European quarterfinal.
Pochettino, yet to win a trophy in his managerial career, has been strongly linked with a move to Manchester United at the end of the season.
If that mooted deal may now be less of a sure thing given Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s remarkable impact as interim boss at Old Trafford, there is little doubt Pochettino will still be a man in demand, with Real Madrid also interested in his services.
Derided as serial underachievers when they struggled to break into the Premier League’s top four, Pochettino has made Tottenham into Champions League mainstays capable of ruffling the feathers of Europe’s aristocracy.
“We feel so proud and with all the circumstances the team is doing fantastically, the performance of the squad is unbelievable,” Pochettino said.
But for all their undoubted growth, there remains a nagging feeling of unfulfilled potential about Spurs, who have won only three cups in the past 28 years.
Failure to land a big prize with the generation of Tottenham stars he has cultivated so astutely, including Harry Kane, Dele Alli, Christian Eriksen and Son Heung-min, would be considered a missed opportunity.
Tottenham have finished in the Premier League’s top three for the past three seasons and they retain an outside chance of winning the title this campaign.
Pochettino’s first season featured a tame Europa League last-32 defeat against Fiorentina and the following year they were knocked out by Dortmund in the last-16 of the same competition.
His maiden voyage in the Champions League was even more rocky as Tottenham failed to qualify from the group stage.
Finally hitting their stride last season, Spurs enjoyed a memorable 3-1 win over European champions Real Madrid in the group stage and they also drew in Madrid and twice beat Dortmund.
But as the pressure mounted Tottenham blew their lead in the last-16 second leg against Juventus as two second-half goals sent them crashing out. –