Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino has revealed he felt “empty” following their Champions League final loss to Liverpool.
Spurs reached their first European Cup final last season but fell to a 2-0 defeat against Liverpool in Madrid.
Spurs since Madrid ’19: Five key things to know…
- Spurs reached their first European Cup final last season but fell to a 2-0 defeat to Liverpool in Madrid.
- They added Tanguy Ndombélé, Ryan Sessegnon and Giovani Lo Celso to their first-team squad in the following summer.
- However, they started the 2019/20 campaign poorly, having won four of their opening 13 matches in all competitions.
- Heading into matchday 10 of the Premier League they sit 13 points behind leaders Liverpool.
- Both teams meet each other for the first time since last season’s Champions League final on October 27 at Anfield.
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After getting past Borussia Dortmund, Manchester City and Ajax in the knockout stages, Spurs couldn’t have started the Champions League final any worse, with Moussa Sissoko penalised for handball inside the penalty area after just 24 seconds.
Mohamed Salah would subsequently convert the spot-kick and Jurgen Klopp’s side never looked back with Divock Origi doubling Liverpool’s lead three minutes from time, handing the Reds a sixth European Cup.
The result came as a hammer blow to Spurs, who had enjoyed one of their more successful seasons, and the pain they felt that night in the Spanish capital still resonates ahead of their first meeting with Liverpool since then.
For their boss Pochettino, who had never managed a game of this magnitude before, the defeat continued to play on his mind in the subsequent weeks that followed.
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“The last game of the season, the final of the Champions League is all or nothing and it was nothing in the end,” he told reporters.
“To be second for us, because we are so competitive in football, is nothing.
“It means a lot for the club to reach the final of the Champions League but the players and staff felt empty after the game.
“With time you can say, okay we played in the final of Champions League but we didn’t win and that will always be with you.”
“We love football. It’s difficult to move on. My life is about football.
“It is my priority always, with my family. You cannot switch off, in the summer maybe you’re in a different place, you can move your body and travel, but your mind is always in the same place.”