Spurs to make a quick turnaround
TOTTENHAM will return to London immediately after tomorrow’s crunch Champions League clash at Manchester City — despite playing at the Etihad Stadium again 62 hours later.
Mauricio Pochettino (below) will prepare his team for the Saturday lunchtime Premier League game against Pep Guardiola’s men at the club’s Enfield HQ despite a tight turnaround between Etihad visits.
Last week, City took stayed in London between their FA Cup semi-final win over Brighton at Wembley on April 6 and the Champions League quarter-final first leg at Tottenham three days later. Meanwhile, City’s Kevin De Bruyne urged his team not to be lulled into a false sense of security by Harry Kane’s absence tomorrow. Tottenham went on to beat City 1-0 last week after Kane was carried off with an ankle injury that is likely to end his season. Spurs then thumped Huddersfield 4-1 on Saturday without their talismanic captain. ‘Harry Kane is a wonderful striker, but it would be disrespectful to the other guys (to say it’s a boost),’ said De Bruyne. ‘They won against us without him when he went off. They have brilliant players.’
City captain Vincent Kompany added: ‘When you play Tottenham — or any top six team — they have such a vast squad, such a wealth of talent that if you take one player out, you might lose something but the new player will bring something entirely different to the table.
‘None of us will focus on that. We are all pretty clear what we need to do.’
KEVIN DE BRUYNE has admitted he thought Raheem Sterling was ‘a bit of a d***head’ before they became team-mates. The pair (below) joined Manchester City in the summer of 2015 in big-money deals and De Bruyne, who cost £55million from Wolfsburg, had reservations about Sterling, who left Liverpool for £44m. ‘Before I came to City, I didn’t really know what to make of this Raheem Sterling guy,’ De Bruyne told The Players’ Tribune. ‘I had never met him, and from what I’d read about him...I thought he was going to be a very different character. ‘The tabloids were always claiming that he was arrogant. ‘So I guess I thought he’d be... a bit of a d***head, maybe?’ De Bruyne, 27, added that the 24-year-old England forward was quick to change his mind. ‘They said Raheem was this flashy guy who left Liverpool for money,’ he said. ‘Then I got to City and met Raheem, and I thought, “Wait, this guy seems really cool? What’s the story here?”.’ The public perception of Sterling has shifted since he left Liverpool and his forthright views on racism, and the way he has handled abuse, have earned him much praise. ‘I got to know Raheem, and recognised what a smart and genuine person he is,’ De Bruyne explained. ‘Raheem is one of the nicest, most humble guys I’ve met in football.’ De Bruyne’s relationship with ex-manager Jose Mourinho, it seems, has not had the same positive outcome. The Belgian played very little under the Portuguese at Chelsea and the explanation as to why came in typical Mourinho fashion. ‘Jose called me into his office and it was probably the second big life-changing moment for me,’ said De Bruyne. ‘He said: “One assist. Zero goals. Ten recoveries”. I said: “I feel like the club doesn’t really want me here. I’d rather you sell me”. So the club ended up selling me, and there was no big problem.’