Tottenham Hotspurs made it to the last 16 of the Champions League with a 1-1 draw against Barcelona at the Camp Nou on Tuesday.
They had conceded an early goal thanks to an example of brilliance from Ousmane Dembele in the seventh minute. While it looked as if this was the last game for Spurs in the Champions League this season, a late goal from Lucas Moura helped the Premier League side snatch one point and do what manager Mauricio Pochettino said the team had achieved-” Mission Impossible.”
But despite this result, they had to wait for some time for a confirmation of their progress into the last 16 and did so when they learnt that Inter hasn’t been able to beat bottom-placed PSV Eindhoven.
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“I am so happy for the fans – this is a massive, massive achievement for the club,” Pochettino, as quoted by BBC said.
“We suffered because when we finished the game we did not know the result at Inter. It was two very difficult minutes, but in the end, of course, we were so happy. It’s so important for the club,” he added.
Spurs were rightly rewarded with the leveller as they launched a flurry of attacks that troubled the Barcelona defence. Both Harry Kane and Son Heung-min came close to finding the equaliser but Jasper Cillesen, who had replaced first-choice Marc-Andre Ter Stegen in the line-up did well to deny efforts from Kane and Son.
He pulled off an exceptional save to deny Moura but the Brazilian eventually found the back of the net when he received an accurate cross from Kane. This goal sealed Spurs’ qualification– a fact that seemed highly unlikely few days ago. Yet, the London side became only the eighth side to go through to the last-16 stage after winning just one point from their first three matches.
Lauding his team’s efforts, Pochettino added, “I always believed it was possible to win the game. We produced a lot of chances.
He added further, “But after we missed so many we thought maybe it was not our night. We fully deserved to go through with Barcelona. We were the best teams in a difficult group.”
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