Fri 31 August 2018, 18:23
Tottenham HotspurMauricio Pochettino cannot wait to return to 'my town' after we were drawn against Spanish giants Barcelona in the UEFA Champions League.
We’ll play the La Liga champions, Dutch title-winners PSV Eindhoven and Italian giants Inter Milan home and away in Group B of the competition.
Mauricio has a strong affinity with the Catalan capital as it is where he spent 12 years of his career as both a player and manager at Barcelona’s city rival, Espanyol.
He moved to the Estadi de Sarrià as a player in 1994, plying his trade at Espanyol for six years before moving to Paris Saint Germain. He returned to the city just three years later, however, for a second spell as a player, before taking his first job in management there in January, 2009.
As fate would have it, his first game in the hot seat at Espanyol was the ‘Derbi barceloní’ against Pep Guardiola’s all-conquering Barca in the last 16, first leg of the Copa del Rey. Mauricio’s new team shut-out Guardiola’s side at home before losing the second leg 3-2.
The next meeting between the teams at the Nou Camp - 21 February, 2009 - saw Espanyol earn a shock 2-1 win. That was on their way to a creditable 10th place in La Liga, Mauricio winning admirers across Europe for his high pressing attacking brand of football as well as for prioritising the development of young players from the side's youth set-up.
🗣️ "It is so exciting."
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) August 31, 2018
Mauricio reacts to drawing @FCBarcelona in the @ChampionsLeague group stage.#COYS pic.twitter.com/8cEGutiLFX
"Barcelona is my town," Mauricio told us proudly after training on Friday. "It is my family town and I have a lot of friends there.
"Of course, Espanyol is my club and Barcelona is my sporting enemy. I have a lot of friends though in the city and many support Barcelona.
"It will be a special game because it offers the opportunity to go home to play in a fantastic stadium against one of the best teams in the world, so it is very exciting."
While excited about the challenge that awaits in Spain, Mauricio was quick to bring the focus back to our upcoming tests in the Premier League - starting with Watford at Vicarage Road on Sunday.
He added: "We have a few games before the start of the Champions League.
"The draw was very tough for us but also for the other teams too. We are very excited to play in this season’s Champions League. It’s the best competition, with the Premier League, in the world and so we are so excited to face teams like PSV, Inter and Barcelona but now we need to focus on Watford."
