Pochettino: We must turn Wembley into fortress

MAURICIO Pochettino has told his Tottenham players only they can turn Wembley into a Champions League fortress.

Spurs take on Bayer Leverkusen in Group E tonight, hoping to break the club’s miserable run of form at the national stadium.

They have won only once in six matches at the new Wembley, their most recent disappointment coming in September’s 2-1 Champions League defeat to Monaco, in front of a record crowd of 85,011.

Tottenham will play all their Champions League games this season at Wembley while their new stadium is being built and Pochettino has urged his players to turn it to their advantage.

“It’s true that it’s a big motivation for the opponent when they come to England and they play at Wembley,” Pochettino said.

“It was for me. To come here to England and play at Wembley against England, it was a fantastic experience.

“But it must be for us, not only a motivation, but it must inspire us, because 90,000 people being behind us must be a big problem for our opponent. And it’s in our mind to create that energy.

“It’s our responsibility to create the atmosphere, that says ‘OK, it’s an exciting thing to come here and play at Wembley but it will be tougher for you, too, to play against Tottenham, because you play against 90,000 supporters that are very excited and bring all of their energy to us’.

“That is our responsibility to create that atmosphere.”

Harry Kane will not feature against Leverkusen but could return for the north London derby against Arsenal on Sunday.

Pep Guardiola