Defiant Pochettino proud of Spurs despite Juve collapse

London, United Kingdom | AFP | Mauricio Pochettino insisted 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 quarter-finals for the first time since 2011 when Son Heung-Min rewarded their first-half 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.

FULL-TIME: A bitterly disappointing evening at Wembley as second-half goals from Higuain and Dybala see us exit the Champions League. pic.twitter.com/8s20cjVuqK

— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) March 7, 2018

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 Tottenham aren’t mentally strong enough to win on the big occasions.

“All this talk is rubbish. At the end it is win or lose. When you assess the game, I think only Tottenham was better for more than 70 minutes,” he said.

“If Harry (Kane) scored at the end or we scored twice in the first half, maybe we are talking differently.

“I’m happy with my players. We did everything to try to win.

58 – @ChrisEriksen8 finds Sonny superbly, he cuts inside Barzagli and bends one over the crossbar.

⚪ #THFC 1-0 #JUV ? pic.twitter.com/fmNDQQDt20

— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) March 7, 2018

“It was not a lack of experience, not a lack of concentration. How many chances did we concede?

“We conceded three chances and they scored twice. We had a lot of chances and only scored one.

“We can talk about a lot of situations, but sometimes you need some luck to win.”

– Pochettino ‘still ‘a dreamer’ –

Pochettino had spoken passionately this week about his dream of making Tottenham one of the best sides in England and Europe.

And even surrendering the lead against the Italian champions couldn’t dissuade the Argentine from his belief Tottenham are on the brink of joining Europe’s superpowers.

“I feel very proud, we dominated overall against a very good team like Juventus,” he said.

The best photos from a stunning night at @wembleystadium ???

➡ https://t.co/RIesVkswJu #TOTJuve #TOGETHER #UCL pic.twitter.com/v4W3Xpqcci

— JuventusFC (@juventusfcen) March 7, 2018

“In the two games we were much better, but at this level the tie went to Juventus in three minutes.

“I’m disappointed of course but the quality of the team was very good. We showed massive maturity. I’m relaxed and happy.

“I’m still a dreamer. When you compete in the Champions League with these clubs you can win or lose. Football is not a nightmare for me.”