Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino remained adamant his team was deserving of the win against Juventus, despite losing the match 2-1.
Spurs were on the back foot after conceding twice in the opening 15 minutes as Juventus pounced, but improved dramatically after the break with Erik Lamela pulling the strings in attack.
“I think that we were better than Juventus. We made a lot of chances, we make the possibility to draw the game,” Pochettino said.
“When you concede a very early goal after 15 minutes 2-0 down, it is difficult.”
“Juventus played the counter attack, and we made some mistakes,” he said.
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While Lamela was a clear standout in his 45 minute appearance, Pochettino praised the collective for a vastly improved second half performance.
“The player (Erik Lamela) and the team behaved different and took the responsibility to play, and play more higher (line),” he said.
“It was all (players) not only Lamela. He is a great player, but I think it was the context (of the game) that changed, and we started to play much better from the beginning of the second half.”
READ | 'Dybala is class', 'Lamela lethal' but the game 'should've been played at AAMI!' | https://t.co/aZfyOPcG7e | #ICCJUVTOT #Juve #THFC
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The 44-year-old revealed a decision is to be made on Friday regarding star midfielder Christian Eriksen’s involvement against Atletico Madrid.
“We’ll see because he got a virus when we arrived in Australia on Saturday, and it was impossible to be involved in the game.
“We hope (Eriksen can play) a valuable 45 minutes.”
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