Mauricio Pochettino has described Tottenham’s defeat to Juventus as a “massive lesson in how to behave” on and off the pitch after his team’s Champions League elimination on Wednesday.
“It’s a situation that you must learn from,” Pochettino said. “If we only see the stats form the two games, Tottenham was the much better team. Then in football it’s not only about performance, stats, shots on targets, possession.
“It’s small details. Juve are specialists, they have the habit to win, the habit to pressure on the referee. The owner stayed in tunnel before and during the game. It’s a club with a culture to do everything to help team.
“It’s a massive opportunity to learn not only on the pitch but [also] outside. It’s two games against this type of club — one on the pitch, one outside the pitch.
“With players like [Gianluigi] Buffon, [Georgio] Chiellini, with experience every season in the Champions League and two finals in the last three seasons, of course it’s a plus. In different moments during the game, they can use that.
“It’s a massive lesson to care not only on the pitch, but off the pitch. When you’re going to win, you need help from everyone.
“We need to create [a mentality] like different clubs who win titles The club is first, then everyone is below. The club and the fans. The most important thing is the club, to create a culture here.
“That’s what we need to settle here. The club is over everyone. And only the people that pay the tickets, the fans are at the same level. This feeling, we’re capable of feeling this way, we’re in a good way to create a massive club because we have all the tools to be one of the biggest clubs in Europe.”
After the game, which was decided by goals from Gonzalo Higuain and Paulo Dybala after Son Heung-Min’s opener, Juventus centre-half Chiellini said “history” had played a part in the result — suggesting Tottenham’s was about falling just short, while Juventus’ was about winning.
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