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Spurs players must be prepared to ‘die’ for Champions League football

After one win in five Spurs could still finish outside the top four

Ian Baker
Tuesday 08 May 2018 18:01 BST
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Pochettino insists Spurs will fight all they can to secure top four football
Pochettino insists Spurs will fight all they can to secure top four football

Mauricio Pochettino has issued a battle cry ahead of Tottenham Hotspur’s final two matches, insisting his players must be prepared to “die” to ensure they finish in the Champions League positions.

A disastrous run of just one victory in five matches has put Spurs’ top four spot in doubt and failure to win Wednesday night’s match against Newcastle United and Sunday’s clash with Leicester City, both at Wembley Stadium, could let in London rivals Chelsea.

“We are in a fight, a battle for the top four,” said Pochettino. “To win the Champions League is a dream of everyone and for me it’s impossible to not give your best in the last two games to win. And it’s massive because the Champions League is, with the Premier League, the best competition in the world.

“It’s in our own hands and we need to die to try to achieve that. Now it’s about the players who are going to play to die to try to achieve this. If we cannot, we cannot. That is different, we need to analyse why.

“But now we have to be all together, to fight for that, with our fans and to create a good atmosphere for tomorrow and Sunday, and try to achieve all together and to be sure to play Champions League in the new stadium.”

The sums for making Europe’s premier club competition are enormous. Liverpool have already made £77m this campaign and just qualifying for the group stage brings in an expected £50m, quite something for a club understood to have spent close to £1bn on redeveloping White Hart Lane.

But Pochettino is adamant failure will not cause serious financial implications for either Tottenham or chairman Daniel Levy.

The north Londoners have already had two top four finishes under the Argentine since his arrival in 2014 and are ahead in terms of their on-field plans.

“It was never the idea to play in the Champions League for four years,” said Pochettino. “The idea was to prepare the team for the first year. I think Daniel is safe with the money. It is not a problem.

“The plan four years ago was not to play every season in the Champions League to be sure that the club is going to survive. If you overachieve, fantastic. You have more money to invest in the facilities like the new stadium. But I don’t think money is a problem.”

Tottenham are not without their problems going into the Newcastle game and have to play without Eric Dier, a key component of their side, as he is suffering with a 48-hour sickness bug.

Pochettino though presented a positive picture of the scenario. He is aiming not only to make the top four but also to finish above both Liverpool and Chelsea and finish third.

“At the start of the season it would be a dream to be in this position,” he said. “For me it is positive. It is not negative. I’m so excited to fight with Liverpool and Chelsea, big sides, and we are there. That was our dream always, to have the possibility to fight with this kind of club.

“I hope we are focused to make sure we are able to win the last two games and be in the top four. It would be a massive success for the team and the club to finish third.

“We need to be focused in the delivery at our club. The best is to win the next two games. We need to be focused on that but I know that we will. We need the delivery on the pitch.”

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