TURIN: Tottenham celebrated one of their most impressive recoveries in European competition after forcing a 2-2 draw away to Juventus in their Champions League second round opener in Turin following a disastrous start.
The night’s other tie saw Manchester City win easily by 4-0 away to Basel in Switzerland.
Mauricio Pochettino and his Spurs are in command of their tie, with two away goals to their credit. But they need to lay the immediate post-match euphoria to rest as quickly as possible because, for all their talent, it is not in Europe’s elite competition that Pochettino is best placed to delete the label of a fine coach who has won nothing.
Tottenham face lower-league Rochdale at the weekend in the FA Cup which remains their most alluring trophy route, given that the Premier League title is way beyond reach. Even a return to the Champions League is questionable with Spurs sitting fifth in the Premier table.
Top scorer Harry Kane led the fightback in Turin by scoring Spurs’ first goal on an assist from Dele Alli. Christian Eriksen equalised from a free kick after Juventus had made a highspeed start with two goals from Gonzalo Higuain, one a penalty.
Spurs had one moment of fortune immediately before half-time when Higuain blasted another penalty against the crossbar. Otherwise they were largely in command of the game and dominated possession.
Afterwards Pochettino was full of praise for his players, who have been accused of lacking game-management skills.
He said: “We showed we are mature enough to compete in the Champions League. We showed great character. The good thing, this is our fourth season and we are always improving in different aspects.
“I feel so proud. We showed great character against a team that played two finals in three years, with amazing experience on the pitch. We are a young team in this competition. To show that performance is to be proud and to congratulate the players because they were fantastic.”
Pochettino was especially delighted that his team summoned such intense commitment after winning a testing north London derby against Arsenal last Saturday while Juventus’s most recent Serie A match was on Friday evening.
The tie is far from over. Tottenham’s natural game is attack just as Juventus’ preference Is counter-attack. Back at Wembley Spurs will want to win and will thus be vulnerable to the counter, especially if their defence is as shaky as in the opening exchanges in Turin. Fullbacks Serge Aurier and Ben Davies both had games to forget.
On the other hand Mousa Dembele commanded midfield as he had in Spurs’ recent domestic victories over Manchester United and Arsenal.
This is the other, long-term challenge for Spurs: the more they impress, the more the likes of Kane, Alli, Dembele and even Pochettino himself will become targets for the sort of money few clubs can refuse.
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