Pochettino undaunted by loss
MAURICIO Pochettino insisted that Tottenham had nothing to be ashamed of after three minutes of madness ended their Champions League challenge in a painful 2-1 defeat against Juventus.
Tottenham were on course to reach the quarterfinals for the first time since 2011 when Son Heung-min rewarded their firsthalf dominance with the opening goal at Wembley on Wednesday.
After the first leg finished 2-2, Son’s strike put Pochettino’s side ahead on aggregate, but Juventus completely flipped the script in the second leg of the last-16 tie with a stirring second-half fightback.
Gonzalo Higuain punished poor Tottenham marking to steer in Juventus’s equaliser and Paulo Dybala bagged the winner three minutes later with a cool finish after splitting the hosts’ poorly executed offside trap.
It was a bitter blow for Tottenham and the loss raised fresh questions about their ability to win major trophies under Pochettino.
But, yet to land any silverware with the north Londoners, Pochettino bristled at suggestions that Tottenham were not mentally strong enough to win on big occasions.
“All this talk is rubbish. At the end it is win or lose.”
Meanwhile, Juventus boss Massimiliano Allegri claimed he had not lost faith his side could fight back despite their lethargic first half.
“The guys put in a fantastic performance. Even at 1-0 down we had a good reaction,” he said.