Tottenham Hotspur 1 Borussia Dortmund 2: Mauricio Pochettino turns focus to Premier League after Europa League exit

Spurs manager says German rivals are a ‘Champions League level’ team following defeat over two legs

Dortmund's Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, center, celebrates after scoring the 2-0 lead during the match between Tottenham Hotspur vs Borussia Dortmund (EPA)

Mauricio Pochettino said that his Tottenham team are focused on winning every remaining Premier League game after going out of the Europa League. Spurs have eight games left, and are five points behind Leicester City, and while Pochettino was disappointed with Spurs’ elimination, he is now aiming to win Spurs’ first league title since 1961.

“I think now we have eight games in the Premier League and we need to try to win every game,” Pochettino said. “We need to start Sunday [against Bournemouth]. We are in a position that we can fight for everything, and we need to try. Now focus on the Premier League, and try to win every game. This is our intention.”

Pochettino said that Dortmund were a ‘Champions League level’ team, and that his young Spurs side had learned a lot by playing them over two legs.

“I am disappointed because we are out of the Europa League, but we need to take positives,” he said. “We learned a lot, we played against a team that are Champions League level. For that we need to take positive things. It was a good tie to feel our real level in Europe, because today we competed with a team that is Champions League level, not Europa League level.”

Dortmund coach Thomas Tuchel said that Spurs could compete in next season’s Champions League despite Dortmund’s easy win over two legs. “They will play in the Champions League, they are able to compete,” he said. “I am pretty sure, they have a certain style to play, you can totally see it, it’s their style, an attacking style. In my opinion, if they deserve to play Champions League, they will be ready next year.”