Hugo: 'We forgot the tiredness and just enjoyed it'

Even after what must surely go down as one of our best European nights of the modern era, captain Hugo Lloris refused to allow his focus to waver.

The last player to emerge from the changing room after the dust had settled on our marvellous 3-0 win over Borussia Dortmund at Wembley on Wednesday, our goalkeeper was his usual considered self as he reflected with pride on a blistering second-half team display that saw us take a commanding lead at the half-way point of our Champions League round of 16 tie.

“I think we can be proud of our performance but it’s not done, there is still one game to play and in football, you never know,” said the Frenchman, who produced a magnificent save from Dan-Axel Zagadou just before half-time to give us the platform on which to build our lead, while at the same time denying the Bundesliga leaders an away goal.

“With the same mentality and the same spirit, I think we can look to big things but we need to be professional and be serious, especially after the Leicester game on Sunday where we finished the game so tired. We suffered a lot in the second half but in three days we’ve completely changed, even if in the first half we didn’t play like we wanted. In the second half we increased our level.”

Much has been said about the demanding schedule that’s faced the players in recent weeks but Hugo said that was all put to one side on a cracking night at the national stadium.

“It’s true, this game arrived at maybe the most difficult period of the season but we were ready to compete,” he said. “I always repeat that the mentality and the spirit inside the squad is fantastic and this result shows everything.

“In the last few games we’ve kept winning but sometimes without the way we’re used to playing, but today we all increased our level. We forgot about the tiredness, forgot about the time, the moment and we just enjoyed the way we play. The stadium was full and it was a great feeling. This is the type of game that we want to play.”

Asked about the importance of his save just before the break, Hugo added: “Every detail counts in this type of game. There are two games to go through and probably it will be the same in the away game. It’s going to be tough in Dortmund and we all need to be strong together. Today everyone contributed to the job – we played at a fantastic level and that’s why in the second half the team performed so well, because individually everyone was ready to play at their best.”