Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino stresses importance of ending Wembley drought

CSKA need to beat Spurs at Wembley to pip the Premier League side to third spot in Group E and a place in the Europa League.

“It was total panic. there was a Russian in each row and they chased after us”, he says. However, he has been criticized by fans following some poor performances this season which have left CSKA third in the Russian league and with no chance of reaching the Champions League knockout rounds.

“The only disappointment is that we didn’t go to the next round of the Champions League”. Tottenham is a team that wants to compete at a high level.

Juventus extended their unbeaten run in the group stages to six games and had Gonzalo Higuain and Daniele Rugani to thank for a 2-0 win over Dynamo Zagreb.

If Spurs avoid defeat against Moscow they will drop into the last 32 of the Europa League with the prospect of qualification for next season’s Champions League available to the winners of this silverware.

Indeed, Pochettino’s line-up was stronger than the one he had selected for the previous Champions League game in Monaco.

Andy Carroll might be fit again and will be perhaps eager to prove a point against his former employers but this fixture screams home win and Sadio Mane looks a good shout at 3/1 with bet365 to be first goalscorer.

“I know there’s a long way to go, but if you lose to Spurs at home that gap becomes bigger”.

“I believe that it’s important for the club to be involved in the Europa League”, he added. “We moved the ball very well today, we found spaces in behind, the performance was better and it was good to end the group with a bit of pride here tonight”. “For big sides like us, or Liverpool, or Chelsea, not being involved in European competition is always hard”.

“Now we have an important period and we are arriving in good form”.

“It’s important to make Wembley our home”. We can deal with the pressure.

When they went a goal down early on, it seemed Tottenham’s struggles at the national stadium would continue.

“It is important to be positive”.

At the very least, the merits of the Europa League were a tough sell for Pochettino and there was a revealing moment when he struggled to describe the Thursday night-Sunday afternoon cycle that comes with it as being anything other than a “psychological” problem.

A top-four finish remains the objective in the Premier League this time around, with Tottenham aiming to establish themselves as perennial qualifiers for the Champions League. “It’s psychological because you wait for Sunday”.

Another flowing Spurs attack saw Kyle Walker feed Kane, whose instinctive first-time pass released Eriksen, only for the Danish winger to shoot straight at Akinfeev.

“It’s always hard because with Thursday travel, you’re back maybe late on Friday morning, always it’s hard and tough”.