Mauricio Pochettino has issued a cry for help from the Premier League, who he believes are failing to support English clubs as they head to the sharp end of the Champions League.
Tottenham have the comfort of a 3-0 lead against Borussia Dortmund and can reach the last eight of Europe’s most prestigious club competition for only the second time in their history.
Pochettino, however, was in no mood to relax as he arrived in Germany, urging against complacency and slamming a fixture schedule which left him with a 24-hour disadvantage in terms of preparation time for both legs against the Bundesliga leaders.
‘There’s no time,’ fumed the Spurs boss. ‘Dortmund in the first leg had more time to prepare for the game and now the same because they played Friday.
‘We played on Saturday and the only way we can prepare is with talking because the players need to rest.
‘We played a derby against Arsenal and you know what it means to play a derby, not only in the physical condition but the mental energy you spend, too.
‘It is impossible that one team had 24 hours more than the other to prepare.
‘It is massive. I don’t understand how you can arrive in this situation when both clubs are going to compete for such an important competition like the Champions League.’
Borussia Dortmund lost on Friday night at Augsburg and Spurs played on Saturday lunchtime against Arsenal.
Ahead of the first leg — a Wednesday tie — the Germans played on the Saturday and Pochettino’s team faced Leicester at Wembley on the Sunday.
‘We need help from the FA and the Premier League,’ added the Tottenham boss. ‘In Europe the FAs are more sensitive to helping the clubs compete in the best way in the competitions.
‘Maybe we need to blame ourselves because we have struggled to deal with this type of thing.
‘Of course, we are going to fight and give our best but it is not fair to our players to compete with a massive disadvantage.
‘It is a problem that in the future we need to change if we want to help the English clubs be stronger in this competition.’
-Dailymail