CL: European teams starting to respect Spurs, says Mauricio Pochettino

Mauricio Pochettino believes his brave Tottenham side are ready to take another major step in Europe

Mauricio Pochettino

Mauricio Pochettino believes his "brave" Tottenham side are ready to take another major step in Europe. Spurs host Juventus in the second leg of their Round-of-16 tie at Wembley tonight. The north Londoners have every chance of knocking out the Italian champions - finalists in two of the last three seasons — after coming back from two goals down to draw 2-2 in the first leg in Turin.

And Pochettino has told his players to grasp their latest opportunity to make another big statement. "It's been step by step, a little step every season," said the Spurs boss. "The team is more mature. We know very well we are playing one of the best teams in Europe but we are a brave team.

"We need to think that we can win, we always think in this way. If we are able to play in the way we normally do then we will be close to winning. Last season was a massive disappointment to be out in the first stage, but this year of course the people in Europe start to respect Tottenham. "They respect the way we play. We feel we have respect for the brand of football we show, they respect us in Europe we feel," he added.

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