Mauricio Pochettino lifted the lid on his first meeting with Daniel Levy: “My first meeting was in his house, he was without shoes and he was in his pyjamas, it was the afternoon.” he told PA Sport.
On the football side of things however, Poch was clearly in an ambassadorial role at today’s presser, ahead of his biggest game in charge at Spurs.
“We have a great opportunity to be here playing the semi-final it has not happened often. It is our first time in the Champions League semi-final, that is why you must show respect for the competition and the opponent because it is going to be tough.”
Maurico Pochettino
Poch is skating on thin ice here, with echoes of Harry Redschnapp’s ‘you’ve never had it so good’ gaffe.
“The most important is what we create on the team, the spirit which makes you believe all is possible. To play a semi-final in our new stadium is a thing that no one would have believed a few months ago.”
Maurico Pochettino
As per my last blog, Poch went to great pains to point out that Ajax had not ‘lucked’ their way into the latter stages of this competition.
After knocking out both Real Madrid and Juventus, Ajax became the first side in European Cup/Champions League history to progress from two different knockout rounds within the same campaign when failing to win their first leg at home.
Ajax have won their last three away games in the Champions League, as many as they had in their previous 31 on the road in the competition (W3 D11 L17).
“To arrive at the semi-final is because they have a lot of quality and unbelievable players. In the group stage they were unbeaten playing Bayern, then beating tough teams like Real Madrid and Juventus. I think those results show how tough a team like Ajax is.”
Maurico Pochettino
Getting the excuses in early …. Way to go !