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Mauricio Pochettino

LONDON. — Tottenham’s swaggering 3-1 victory over Real Madrid proves they deserve to be ranked as genuine contenders for the Champions League soccer title, manager Mauricio Pochettino has claimed. Pochettino’s side came of age at Wembley on Wednesday night as they delivered a breathtaking display to book their place in the last 16 and hand Madrid their first Champions League group stage defeat in five years.

Dele Alli opened the scoring and bagged a superb second before Christian Eriksen notched Tottenham’s killer third, with Cristiano Ronaldo’s late strike no consolation for the shell-shocked European champions. Aware Tottenham hadn’t been accepted as one of Europe’s elite despite their impressive progress under his management, Pochettino insists there can no longer be any doubt his team are the equal of Real and rest of the Champions League super-powers.

“Obviously this sort of win makes us more visible. It’s something everyone around Europe will see. You’ve seen today Tottenham are a big team. We now belong not only among the best teams in England but also in Europe. This is preparing us very well to achieve our goals. We want to win big competitions. If we get there this year remains to be seen but we are moving in the right direction,” he said.

The vibrant performance will go down as one of Tottenham’s greatest days, joining the Gareth Bale-inspired rout of Inter Milan in 2010, Ricky Villa’s FA Cup-winning heroics in 1981 and Paul Gascoigne’s 1991 Wembley masterclass against Arsenal in the club’s pantheon of iconic moments. It was remarkable to see a side of Madrid’s class rendered so helpless in the face of Tottenham’s relentless pressing and incisive attacks. Pochettino demurred when asked if it was the best result of his career, but the pride was clear to see on his face.

“It’s important for everyone. It’s a great victory, but honestly I feel happy like when we beat Liverpool or Bournemouth,” he said. — AFP