Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino masterstroke as he closes in on one of his finest achievements

Jack Rosser @JackRosser_29 November 2018

Mauricio Pochettino has taken one step closer to achieving perhaps his biggest triumph as Tottenham manager.

Spurs are effectively one win from making the knockout stages of the Champions League in successive seasons, against all odds. A 1-0 win against Inter Milan at Wembley kept their European hopes alive despite Spurs taking just one point from their first three group stage games.

It is not, though, just the points deficit from unfortunate sendings off, a Lionel Messi masterclass and a late lapse in Milan which Pochettino has been battling against.

At the end of last season the Argentine foretold that this would be his toughest campaign at Tottenham. Six months later and he has been emphatically proved correct. Nine of the 12 players he waved off to the World Cup in Russia have since suffered injuries after the same number lasted the distance over the summer, returning to training less than a week before their Premier League opener. Further to that a summer with no new arrivals and Pochettino has performed a masterstroke.

In Pictures | Champions League gameweek 5 | 28/11/2018

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The start to the season was slow, performance wise. Spurs were not their usual, swaggering selves, a suggestion Pochettino does not enjoy but must face up to.

There were flashes; however, strong performances in Milan and Eindhoven did not yield results. Now, following their dismissal of Chelsea and the rugged domination of Inter, it all seems to be coming together, but Pochettino always knew this "impossible" task would take time.

"We didn't sign anyone, all the players arrived late, no time to prepare the team. Everything new for us. It was a massive challenge but now we're happy. We improve our results, our stats, we're fighting and in a good position in the Champions League and the players deserve a lot of credit," Pochettino told Standard Sport.

"My question is: nine players arrive on Monday, and we need to start the Premier League on Saturday. No-one can explain how to perform in the best way, can give us the secret. We are not machines – maybe this man [assistant manager, Jesus Perez] is.

Tottenham squad 2019-20 | Injuries, contracts and squad numbers

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"It's so difficult, we cannot expect the players can perform. It's a very difficult thing to be ready to compete in your best way and then connect everything. It's only about time, time. With no pre-season, we had nine players involved in the end of the World Cup. It's always the same - if you give rest 20 days, it's too much rest. If you don't give rest, you upset the players.

"It was so difficult for me, impossible, impossible. We need to change for the future many things. Like basketball maybe, to change the rules. Or more capacity for the coaches to manage from the touchline. As I told you, the most difficult season for us started in the summer - massive challenge.

Barcelona on December 11 is a whole new challenge, and perhaps one too far. But victory against Pochettino's old rival, having spent so much of his life tied to Espanyol, would taste even sweeter given the battles he has already won this season.

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