Mauricio's verdict on BVB win, Champions League progress

Mauricio Pochettino spoke of his pride after reaching the quarter-finals of the European Cup/Champions League for only the third time in the Club’s history.

We did it in style with a 1-0 win at Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday night to complete a 4-0 aggregate victory over the Bundesliga leaders.

As expected, we had to withstand a barrage of pressure in the first half before Harry Kane netted a vital away goal four minutes into the second half. In doing so, he became the Club’s all-time record goalscorer in Europe with 24 goals, overtaking Jermain Defoe.

That left BVB needing five goals but we stood firm to secure a second clean sheet in the tie.

Hugo Lloris led a resolute defensive display as BVB poured it on, particularly in the latter stages of the first half. One fingertip save from Marco Reus was right out of the top drawer and he was supported by an impressive back five, typified by Jan Vertonghen’s tackle to deny Reus in front of goal on 10 minutes.

You felt BVB were deflated by Harry’s strike from the outstanding Moussa Sissoko’s pass and we saw out the game with few problems to take our place in the last eight for the first time since the 2010/11 season. The other time we reached this stage was our first campaign in Europe as English champions in 1961/62, when we reached the semi-finals of the European Cup.

Mauricio said: “I’m so proud, so happy for the players, for our fans, for the Club, for everyone.

“It’s a very proud day. I congratulate the players, the effort was fantastic. It was a tough game but a fantastic result and to be in the quarter-final was our objective.

“There was nothing to lose for Dortmund. The first half, the first 30 minutes, was tough for us but when we scored early in the second half the game was over and we started to see the reality of being in the quarter-final. It’s a fantastic achievement.”

Mauricio played at the very highest level as a central defender for Newell’s Old Boys, Espanyol, PSG and Argentina – including the 2002 World Cup finals – and he appreciated more than most the collective defensive effort, particularly in that first half.

He added: “That is the mentality, to make the effort, to be strong in your mind and always have the capacity to help your team-mates. It was fantastic, the effort, the result, the job is done and now we need to wait for the draw.”

The date for the diary is Friday week, 15 March, when the draw for the quarter-finals and semi-finals will be made in Nyon, Switzerland at 11am.

Ajax joined us in the last eight with a stunning 4-1 victory at holders Real Madrid and the Round of 16 will be concluded on Wednesday night (PSG v United, Porto v Roma) and next week (City v Schalke, Juventus v Atletico Madrid, Bayern Munich v Liverpool, Barcelona v Lyon).

Once again, Mauricio thanked our fans - 3,500 made the trip to Germany and made themselves heard all night in the face of Borussia Dortmund’s famous ‘yellow wall’.

Mauricio added: “Our fans were amazing. One more time, I want to dedicate the qualification to the fans because they deserve it, a massive effort to come here, we are so happy they enjoyed the qualification.”