DORTMUND (AFP) - Mauricio Pochettino has appealed to the FA and Premier League to help English clubs in the Champions League after complaining about Tottenham Hotspur's limited recuperation time before facing Borussia Dortmund.
Spurs play Dortmund away in Germany on Tuesday (March 5) in their last-16, return leg after thumping the Germans 3-0 in the first leg at Wembley.
However, Pochettino, 47, is far from happy with having a day fewer to prepare for the last-16 tie at Dortmund's Signal Iduna Park.
Spurs had a bruising 1-1 draw at home to Arsenal in Saturday's north London derby, while Dortmund lost 2-1 at Augsburg on Friday night in the Bundesliga.
"They played Friday, we played Saturday," said Spurs coach Pochettino.
"It's not fair to play with a massive disadvantage.
"We need help from the FA and the Premier League - for us it's impossible.
"We played (a Premier League game) on a Sunday before the first leg, which was on a Wednesday, when Dortmund played Saturday.
"Now we played Saturday, Dortmund played Friday.
"I don't know if the FA or the Premier League are to blame or television, who wanted us to play live Saturday or Sunday."
Pochettino pointed to the example of Stade Rennes, who postponed a French league game at the weekend to prepare for Thursday's Europa League, last-16 tie at home to Arsenal.
"Looked what happened to Rennes, they had a game cancelled, the weekend game, to help prepare to play Arsenal," said Pochettino.
"In Europe, the people are more sensitive to helping their clubs prepare for Europe, that's my point.
"I want us to have the same amount preparation time as our opponents.
"We need to change it in the future to help English clubs be stronger in the competition."
Spurs last reached the Champions League's quarter-finals in 2011 - losing 4-0 at Real Madrid and beaten 1-0 at home - and Pochettino knows this is a golden chance for Spurs.
Harry Kane is expected to lead Spurs' attack while Pochettino said Harry Winks and Eric Dier could feature after injuries.
The Argentinian repeatedly said Spurs must "forget" their heavy first-leg win at Wembley and finish the job by seeing off a Dortmund team who have one win in seven games.
Son Heung-min and Kane scored at Dortmund when Spurs won 2-1 in the group stages in 2017-18 and Pochettino wants another convincing away win.
"It's a great opportunity to go to the next round, but we need a good performance - it's going to difficult," said Pochettino.
"The 3-0 at Wembley is not important.
"We need to forget the first leg, be very professional and win the game.
"We need to start at a very good level, be aggressive, fight from the beginning, high tempo.
"We know Dortmund are a good team, they deserve to be there and they are going to start aggressive and try to push us deeper - we need to be just as aggressive."
Claude Puel: Sacked Leicester boss says it was his 'honour' to manage Premier League side "It was my honour to work for the late and much loved Khun Vichai, who gave me the fantastic
Sacked Puel says managing Leicester a 'honour' | Sport24
Feb 9 (Reuters) - Liverpool returned to the top of the Premier League with a confident 3-0 victory over Bournemouth at Anfield on Saturday. The win moves Juergen Klopps's side three points above second-placed Manchester City who face Chelsea on Sunday and would return to the top on goal difference with a victory.
Liverpool back on top after comfortable win over Bournemouth
Call in Iran for footballers to be punished over Japan melee
Football: Man City suffer shock Premier League defeat by
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola said he was not disappointed by his players. Guardiola stays cool despite shock Man City defeat. Football is like this. Three shots on goal and three goals.
Guardiola stays cool despite shock Man City defeat | New
Liverpool took control of their Champions League quarter-final tie with Porto as goals from Naby Keita and Roberto Firmino secured a 2-0 first-leg win at Anfield on Tuesday. The Reds raced into
Naby Keita, Roberto Firmino give Liverpool 2-0 win over Porto
Valencia clinch Champions League spot, Getafe in Europa
Weary feet to blame for England's fall, Football News & Top
'He's great to watch, but he's not God' - Pope sets fans straight on Messi the pope praised his Argentine compatriot Messi, but said he must not be called God. He's great to watch - but he
'He's great to watch, but he's not God': Pope sets fans
Liverpool could match Arsenal's Invincibles by going through a Premier League season without defeat, according to Unai Emery. Jurgen Klopp's side reached the halfway stage of the campaign with a 4-0 Boxing Day defeat of Newcastle United at Anfield, a result that moved the Reds six points clear at the top of the table.
Liverpool v Arsenal: Reds can be Invincible says Unai Emery
Jun 07, 2019 · June 7 (UPI) --Chelsea's Willian has been announced as the injury replacement for Neymar on Brazil's Copa America squad, the Brazilian Football Confederation said Friday.Neymar is out indefinitely
Willian replaces injured Neymar in Brazil Copa America squad
The Premier League has released a statement in which they state unanimous opposition to proposed changes to the structure of both the Champions League and Europa League. UEFA officials are said to
Premier League Clubs 'Strongly Opposed' to Proposed UEFA
And in Madrid this morning, Klopp completed his journey with a 2-0 victory over a Spurs side that boasted seven members of the same starting XI who took to the park for his first outing in red.
Jurgen Klopp the most important figure at Liverpool, says
The tape says Crime Scene but what should say is sleepless nights and cold sweats. The true face of this city can always be found behind the yellow tape. stop writing shitty paragraph stories that sound like an illiterate grader wrote "Good news or bad news?" "Shoot" "Good news, it fits the other murders. Bad news, it's another murder.
(Reuters) - China was all but confirmed as host nation of the next Asian Cup tournament in 2023 after the only other bidders South Korea withdrew from the process. The Korean Football association
Football: China all but confirmed as 2023 Asian Cup hosts
0 comments:
Post a Comment