Why Bayern Munich game is important - Jose

Jose Mourinho has detailed why our final match in the Champions League group stage still means something - even though we cannot catch hosts Bayern Munich and will finish second in Group B.

We secured our place in the knockout phase of Europe’s most prestigious competition with a 4-2 win against Olympiacos in Jose’s second game in charge last month.

However, Bayern Munich have run away with the group and sit at the top with five wins in five and 15 points. We’re second on 10 points and whatever the result on Wednesday night, it will stay that way.

Facing the media pre-match at the Allianz Arena on Tuesday evening, Jose was asked first up why this game was important.

He replied: “It’s an important game because we represent Tottenham Hotspur and that doesn’t matter the game, the objectives, the ambitions, the competition. Tottenham is Tottenham and that gives us always a sense of responsibility.

“But, we cannot finish first, we cannot have that privileged position in the draw of playing against second in the table, playing the second match at home, so the result is not going to change anything.

“One thing I’m not having is time, and when I say time, time to know my players well, to know all my players well and this is also a great opportunity for some of them to play, for some of them to show what they are capable of, playing in competition is different to playing in training and some of my boys didn’t have the chance to play many minutes in these five matches since I arrived. So, we’ve tried to mix these factors.

“We need to play for Tottenham and that is responsibility but at the same time there are other things.

“The Premier League is a special competition, not just the number of matches but also the intensity, the quality, the pressure, the competitiveness in every match. We are going to have an incredible number of fixtures until the New Year and I think it’s understandable we are going to make a few changes and rest a few players and give an opportunity to others.”

With that in mind - and as revealed in our team news earlier - Serge Aurier, Dele, Harry Kane and Jan Vertonghen have stayed back at Hotspur Way.