TURIN. — Striker Harry Kane said he was delighted that Tottenham fought back on Tuesday night to take two valuable away goals into the second leg of their last 16 Champions League soccer tie with Juventus.

Kane scored one of Spurs’ goals as the English side fought back from 2-0 down to 2-2 in Turin, giving them an outstanding opportunity to qualify for the quarter-finals when the two sides meet at Wembley on March 7.

The Italian giants will have to outscore Tottenham if they are to go through. Asked if he feared Spurs were about to sink without trace after the two early goals from Gonzalo Higuain, Kane told BT Sport: “We could have done, away from home in the Champions League. It showed character.

“It was an excellent performance after that and we take two away goals to Wembley. Great result.” Spurs’ other scorer, Christian Eriksen, said: “We are sure we will have chances at Wembley. We go into that game full of confidence and we’re looking forward to it.”

Manager Mauricio Pochettino says the chance for Tottenham to reach the Champions League quarter-finals is there for the taking after a “fantastic” draw in their last-16 first leg at Juventus on Tuesday.

Pochettino hailed the maturity and character of his side against last year’s losing finalists and insists not many teams can come to Turin and dominate the Italian Serie A champions.

“I am happy because the tie is open and we are going to play the second leg at Wembley, and it will be fantastic because the atmosphere will be great,” he said.

“And for the fans it will be fantastic because the hope to go through to the quarter-finals is there. It’s only 90 minutes away.

“I feel so proud. We showed great character against a team who played two finals (in the last three years). We are a young team playing in this competition, and I say congratulations to the players to show that performance.

“We were talking in the last few weeks about the team being more mature. We have experience but not as much as Juve. We started not in a good way but showed we are mature enough to compete in the Champions League.

“I think the team was so focused. Only seven minutes that it was difficult to handle. In 83 minutes we dominated them and that is a thing to prize because not many teams can come here and dominate a team like them.” Pochettino admitted he was fearing the worst after Gonzalo Higuain’s early double.

“My feeling was so bad,” he said.

“You never hope that happens, to concede the (early) goal. Maybe it was offside, but I don’t want to complain. We start a little bit sloppy. We need to be more solid. Then we concede a penalty, 2-0 down after seven minutes against a great team like Juventus with experienced players.” — Reuters

 

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