LATIN CLASS When we play, people want to watch
POCH RELISHES GREAT ENTERTAINER ROLE
MAURICIO POCHETTINO says “the Champions League loves PSG” as they prepare for a third European blockbuster.
The former Tottenham manager Pochettino could never have imagined such a difficult path to glory when he took over at Paris-Saint Germain in January.
They had to lay the ghosts against Barcelona in the last 16, served up a thriller over two legs against Bayern Munich – who beat them in last season’s final – and now face Manchester City.
It is a rematch tomorrow night of Pochettino v Pep Guardiola, right, from the epic 2019 quarter-final when Tottenham knocked Manchester City out at the Etihad after a night of incredible drama. Pochettino is expecting another classic.
He said: “The Champions League loves us. Any time we are involved in Champions League games, people want to watch. We grabbed the attention because PSG-Barcelona and PSG-Bayern were two amazing massive victories for the club.”
PSG were involved in one of the alltime great European matches against Barcelona in 2017 when, having won the first leg 4-0, they collapsed and lost 6-1 to the Spanish giants in the return. It was dubbed the La Remontada – The Comeback – by the Spanish press.This time, they finished the job, winning 4-1 in Barcelona before a 1-1 draw in the home leg.
Pochettino said: “Before we played Barcelona here all the talk was about La Remontada because of what happened in the past. It was a bit of a strange feeling
“Only a few people inside the club and, of course, the players – the most important factor – were not a little bit nervous and paranoid about it. They were thinking, ‘Oh 4-1, again, Barcelona, what is going to happen if they score first’. “We were really calm, we reached the quarter-finals, we were drawn with Bayern Munich and it was, ‘Oh, it’s them again, the best team in the world’. No one believed in us but here we are in the semi-final.”
PSG won 3-2 in Munich before losing the home match 1-0, going through on away goals.
“Now we have a massive fight,” said Pochettino. “It’s going to be tough because Manchester City are one of the best teams in the world with Pep
Guardiola, left, the best coach in the world. I love to challenge him. I love to challenge the teams he prepares.”
“They have unbelievable players and it’s going to be another fantastic tie.”
Spurs beat City 1-0 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in 2019 when Guardiola’s men were chasing the Quadruple and then squeezed through on away goals despite losing 4-3 in the second leg, when Raheem Sterling had a last-gasp winner ruled out byVAR.
Pochettino recalled: “It was an amazing game. The atmosphere was unbelievable. You can’t believe it now when you watch it all the things that happened in the second leg of the tie.”
In the final, Spurs were beaten 2-0 by Liverpool in Madrid. Now in France, Pochettino has made quite the impression at PSG.
They can still win the Treble, the race for the title is much closer than before and, having reached the final last year, they want to take the last step and become European champions.
After being told constantly at Tottenham how much the club needed to win trophies, Pochettino is used to high expectations.“The target in the past 10 years has been to win the Champions League,” said Pochettino. “The club is working really hard to try to be there and win. That last step is always the most difficult.”