Pressure piles on Pochettino
FOR Mauricio Pochettino, the approach into Barcelona’s El Prat Airport and the familiar sweep through customs usually come with a sigh of relief and a welcome release of pressure.
‘Sometimes, I escape London to come to this magnificent city,’ said the Tottenham manager last night. ‘It’s a city I relate to.’
Pochettino enjoyed two spells in the Catalan capital as an Espanyol player and manager, winning his first game in charge in the derby at the Nou Camp.
His name is among the legends etched into the walls of their stadium and he is feted by their fans when he returns. This time, however, Pochettino touched down with all his problems in tow.
To be sure of progress into the Champions League knockout phase, Spurs must go in search of victory in a ground where Barcelona have not lost in this competition since September 2013.
It is a formidable unbeaten run, stretching over 28 games. If they avoid defeat tonight, they will equal a competition record set by Bayern Munich 16 years ago.
Tottenham, by contrast, are struggling on the road in Europe, winning only four of their past 17 away games.
Had they not lost in stoppage time at Inter Milan or conceded a late equaliser at PSV Eindhoven this season, Spurs would not be in this predicament.
As it stands, they must become only the second English club to beat Barcelona on their own patch — Liverpool won here in 1976 and 2007 — to be sure of going through.
For all the progress under Pochettino (below), he has not yet matched Harry Redknapp, the newly crowned King of the Jungle on ITV’s reality show I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here who led Spurs to the last eight in 2011 before eventually losing to Real Madrid.
‘Congratulations to Harry,’ grinned the Argentine. ‘That’s one trophy for us. At least. Come on.’
But fail to win and Tottenham will need a big favour from PSV at the San Siro.
‘We will know what’s going on there,’ said Pochettino. ‘I’m not going to say only my focus is on this game and then find out their result at the end. It is important to know. But it’s more important to do our job.
‘I am optimistic. I always believe we will arrive at our best. We need to think like this. It is so important, a must-win game.’ Mousa Dembele, Victor Wanyama, Davinson Sanchez and Juan Foyth are all out but Erik Lamela is back and there are glimmers of hope for Tottenham. Not least because Ernesto Valverde is expected to rest some of his senior players, as he did last season when Barcelona had won their group with a game to spare. Valverde has confirmed that Luis Suarez, who returned from injury on Saturday, will not be asked to start again so soon afterwards. ‘Suarez is one of the best strikers in the world, together with Harry Kane,’ said Pochettino.
‘Barcelona will miss him but we know they have an unbelievable squad. For years, they play with the same philosophy.
‘I am not focused on the starting 11. We’ll play against Barcelona and, always, the pressure is on them to win. Not only to win, but to play for something special. Like us. We play for Tottenham.
‘The names of the players are not important. Different players have different qualities, but they will be strong and motivated to show they can compete for more minutes. I expect a strong and motivated Barcelona.’
Lionel Messi, who scored twice against Spurs at Wembley in October and twice against Espanyol on Saturday to take his tally to 17 in all competitions for the season, is expected to start.
And Pochettino was happy to play along with the locals in Barcelona, when asked his opinion on the voting in the Ballon d’Or — won by Real Madrid’s Luka Modric, with Messi failing to make the top five.
‘When you talk about Lionel Messi, you talk about the best in the world,’ he said. ‘Nobody who knows the slightest thing about football doubts that Messi is the best.’
Valverde, meanwhile, showed little sympathy for Tottenham’s rivals for a place in the knockout stages in relation to him sending out a weakened team. He said: ‘Inter don’t need to worry about us. Our intention is to win but if they had beaten Tottenham now, they would not be in this situation.
‘There will be one or two changes. For a player who has been carrying an injury such as Luis Suarez, it does not enter into my plans to make him play two consecutive matches.
‘When you see the line-ups, you will see if Messi plays but the important thing is that, whoever plays, they are very motivated because they will be facing a team who are playing for their Champions League future.’
Valverde said Thomas Vermaelen had a chance of playing, hinting that Gerard Pique would also be rested.
But Barcelona are under no illusions about the quality of striker that Spurs bring to town.
‘Harry Kane is a world-class player,’ said Valverde. ‘He is one of those players who makes the difference. He links the play well, he has a great shot and he is very good in the area.’