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."
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer enjoyed a dream start as Manchester United's interim manager as his side thrashed his former club Cardiff City 5-1 in the Premier League on Saturday. Solskjaer, handed control after this week's sacking of Jose Mourinho, spent a miserable nine months at Cardiff in 2014, getting them relegated from the top-flight.
Solskjaer makes dream start as Man United thrash Cardiff
mmaringreport.com/2018/12/23/solskjaer-makes-dream-start-as-man-united-thrash-cardiff.html
Solskjaer makes dream start as Man United thrash Cardiff returned to Premier League action in their 5-1 win against Cardiff. a director of football but are
Solskjaer makes dream start as Man Utd thrash Cardiff
FIFA President, Gianni Infantino, said a majority of national soccer federations were in favour of expanding the 2022 World Cup in Qatar to 48 teams. Infantino said a decision would be made by March, although it was still not clear whether an enlarged tournament would be feasible as it would be
Infantino says he has wide support for 48-team World Cup in
jordantimes.com/news/sports/infantino-says-he-has-wide-support-48-team-world-cup-qatar
DOHA — FIFA President Gianni Infantino said on Thursday that a majority of national football federations were in favour of expanding the 2022 World Cup in Qatar to 48 teams.Infantino said a decision would be made by March, although it was still not clear whether an enlarged tournament would be feasible as it would be "difficult" to stage in Qatar alone.
Infantino says he has wide support for 48-team World Cup in
Players past and present have joined fans in paying tribute to England World Cup-winning goalkeeper Gordon Banks, who has died at the age of 81. The news of his passing was released by his family
Gordon Banks: World Cup-winning goalkeeper dies aged 81
Osako double saves the day for Japan, Football News & Top
Youngest local SPL Coach, 33, unfazed, Football News & Top
West Ham 0-2 Everton REPORT: Bernard and Zouma secure comfortable away win. The Toffees eased to victory at the London Stadium to leapfrog their opponents in the table
Everton F.C. - Wikipedia
Solskjaer Warns United Players Over Complacency over from Jose Mourinho on December 19 and will look to keep that sequence going at Old Trafford on Saturday. not be complacent and take
Solskjaer warns Man Utd players over complacency
Sacked Mourinho heading back to Madrid?, Football News & Top
Valencia's 17-year-old midfielder Lee Kang-in. Already rated at €80 million by LaLiga side Valencia, 17-year-old South Korean Lee Kang-in is on his way to becoming a big star for club and country.
Three years after Gary Neville's disastrous reign, Valencia
Atletico Madrid president Enrique Cerezo has revealed that no one from Barcelona has contacted him over a move for Antoine Griezmann. The France World Cup winner will call time on his five-year
Antoine Griezmann admits move away from Atletico Madrid is
United Bank for Africa Plc (UBA) - Financial and Strategic SWOT Analysis Review - provides you an in-depth strategic SWOT analysis of the company's businesses and operations. The profile has been compiled by GlobalData to bring to you a clear and an unbiased view of the company's key strengths and weaknesses and the potential opportunities
Home Fort Myers - United Fidelity Bank
Saswa eyes SPL title glory. Ex-Singapore international Saswadimata Dasuki, who won the Malaysia Cup with the Lions in 1994, has been appointed the new head coach of Home United. The 49-year-old
Saswa eyes SPL title glory - theworldnews.net
Football: Scottish title-chasing Rangers sign Jermain Defoe on loan from Bournemouth Rangers, managed by former England midfielder Steven Gerrard, signed former England striker Jermain Defoe in a
Jermain Defoe: Rangers set to sign Bournemouth striker, 36
Karim Benzema stopped Real Madrid's underwhelming La Liga season going from bad to worse on Sunday after firing a last-minute winner to hand the European champions a barely-deserved 3-2 winner
Football: Benzema saves Real Madrid blushes with late Huesca
Jan 16, 2019 · A win and the collection of three points always has a neat symbolic value, but it was the performance that achieved this that said so much more about Solskjaer, and has boosted his chances of
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer appointed Man Utd boss, but is it the
0 comments:
Post a Comment