Mauricio Pochettino takes great pride in Tottenham's European turnaround

The Spurs manager said topping Champions League Group H ahead of Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund shows just how far his team have come in such a short period of time

Tottenham came from behind to beat Borussia Dortmund (Getty)

Mauricio Pochettino hailed the “fantastic achievement” of Tottenham winning their Champions League group last night.

Spurs won Group H despite being drawn with Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund, just one year on after finishing third in a group with Monaco, Bayer Leverkusen and CSKA Moscow.

They did so by beating Borussia Dortmund for the second time this season and Pochettino was thrilled by his players’ obvious progress this year, which means they are now seeded for the last-16 draw.

“It’s fantastic for us, a fantastic achievement,” he said. “To be top of the table, and to qualify for the next stage of the Champions League is new for us.”

Given what happened last year, Pochettino took great pride in Spurs’ turnaround. He said it was a testament to their bravery but also their humility, in not projecting their ambitions after the draw was made.

“The season before, we were watching the draw and we thought, ‘Oh Monaco, Leverkusen and CSKA Moscow’, and we thought we had a chance for the next stage,” Pochettino recalled with a smile.

“This draw we looked and thought, ‘OK we are going to compete’ and we said nothing. And look now, we are first, top of the table.”

Spurs have topped their group ahead of Real Madrid (Getty)

Taking six points off Dortmund and four off Real Madrid is testament to Spurs’ quality and improvement. “It was difficult because Real Madrid and Dortmund and APOEL are always difficult,” Pochettino said.

“But we try to enjoy and be competitive and try to win. That was the idea in every single game.”