Spurs fans here in the Tavern are beginning to get used to life in the Champions League as they continue to impress on the European stage.
Tottenham Hotspur have always had fond memories of European football, after the heroics of Spurs legend Gareth Bale memorably downing Italian giants Inter Milan at the San Siro in 2010.
Now plying their trade in the big time, its beginning to look as if they’ve found their new home.
Champions League football at Wembley was always going to be a fantastic spectacle to watch, but surely no one predicted Spurs’ current status when Mauricio Pochettino and his men were drawn in the ‘group of death’ alongside Borussia Dortmund and defending champions, Real Madrid.
Having eyed up their opposition and beaten them, Spurs find themselves as the winners of their group with 1 game still to be played, after an unbeaten start to the campaign has seen them beat arguably the best team in world football.
Out of all the English teams in the Champions League, this Spurs side have gone from the bottom of the pile to the top after the most impressive of group stages, despite some iffy form away in the big games at Premier League level.
All English teams sit pretty at the top of their respective piles apart from Chelsea, which is proving to be remarkable considering the torrid times that English clubs have shared with the Champions League in recent times.
However, after downing the defending world champions, punters here in the Tavern have Tottenham down as the team to beat in this year’s competition, agreed?
Here’s a look at TWO reasons as to why those punters may just have a point…
Knockout Preparation
In a Champions League competition, its all well to finish top of your group, but it’s all about how you push on from this with the knockout stages becoming a different kettle of fish.
Out of the 5 English clubs currently playing their football in the European tournament, Spurs are the only team to have found themselves with two recent finalists sharing the same group as them in the form of Borrusia Dortmund and Real Madrid.
Preparation for the knockout stages is one of the most important parts in succeeding in the competition, with a lack of complacency and focus needing to be maintained at all times.
Spurs couldn’t have had any better preparation in what will be a shock progression to the knockout stages, against 2 outfits who, on any given day, would be guaranteed progression in any football fans’ mind.
Coming out of the 4 encounters against these two experienced sides with 10 points and an unbeaten streak intact, goes to show Pochettino just how they need to set up and play against some of these European giants.
Confidence and consistency
After qualifying for their first Champions League knockout stage in Pochettino’s reign, Spurs fans and players are at the top of their game.
Having not tasted defeat during the campaign so far, this will pose an added incentive for the team to build on their unbeaten streak to continue to silence any critics or non-believers of their regime.
Confidence is key in the success of any side, it determines the expressive nature the team comes out to play with. Although both Manchester clubs both currently enjoy strong runs, they won’t be getting too ahead of themselves, having played a much lower calibre set of teams in comparison to Spurs.
With a perfectionist like Mauricio Pochettino at the helm, he won’t let any sense of complacency creep into the players’ minds with a constant focus on the task ahead.
The one key aspect that separates the English sides is the fact that if Tottenham had replicated the group stage magic in the knockout stages, they would have already knocked out the world champions, which provides an incredible benchmark for improvement after showing they can be consistent against the world’s best over 2 legs.
So Spurs fans, thoughts?
