Taking his seat 15 hours after the madness, Mauricio Pochettino still appeared to be coming to terms with Tottenham’s dramatic European progress.
‘We are all tired,’ he said with a grin. ‘But… an amazing, crazy and unbelievable night.’
Pochettino and his players arrived back at their lodgings at the club’s Enfield training ground at around 2am on Thursday. They stayed overnight before a debrief and a recovery session.
Spurs beat Man City on away goals in one of the most exciting Champions League games
Tottenham Hotspur boss Mauricio Pochettino says he ‘believes in the universe’ after the win
The manager and his usually straight-faced assistant Jesus Perez could barely conceal their delight Thursday lunchtime and who could blame them?
Pochettino spoke of his players being in a ‘dream-like state’. He lauded them for ‘writing history’. This, after all, is Tottenham’s first semi-final in Europe’s most prestigious club competition for 57 years. Briefly, it all became a touch whimsical as the conversation turned to destiny.
‘I believe in the universe,’ Pochettino began, recalling how his side were on the brink of group-stage elimination in the autumn.
‘In November it was not destiny. At the beginning of the season, nobody believed that destiny was going to reward us. And five years ago, nobody believed we would be here. You need to work hard, to have the option to be rewarded by the universe.’
Then, reclining in his chair, Pochettino contemplated the alternative, doomsday version that so nearly transpired.
When Raheem Sterling collected a cross from Sergio Aguero in added time and tucked the ball past Hugo Lloris, appearing to have won the tie, Pochettino feared only devastation.
‘I threw off my jacket, threw down my jumper and went to sit next to Jesus and Toni Jimenez — it was a few seconds like this,’ he said, putting his head in his hands. ‘It was so fast. There were a lot of bad feelings and bad ideas.’ The lowest moment of his managerial career? ‘In that moment, yes, of course. It was going to be a massive situation emotionally.
Raheem Sterling thought he had scored the winner, only for the goal to be ruled out by VAR
‘We would have been very down. In that moment, you start to think, “Why?” You think of that action where Christian Eriksen played the pass back. “Why not play forwards?” I was reviewing the action, the decision, in my head. How was I going to face the players? The fans? You guys?
‘All these scenarios happened so quickly in my mind. And then I heard Jesus’s voice saying, “Oh, maybe it is offside, VAR checking”, and in that moment I was alive again. I understand the situation on City’s bench; from top of the world down, disappointed. That is unbelievable, the emotion we lived was amazing.’
Instead of picking up a battered and bruised team, Tottenham’s spirits could not be higher ahead of Saturday’s Premier League return to the Etihad Stadium. They travel with yet more injury problems. Moussa Sissoko is a major doubt with a groin injury and Eric Dier is short of fitness.
City have a score to settle and a Premier League title to win. Guardiola’s team will surely bristle at footage from the away changing room that appeared on social media. Tottenham’s players sang and Pochettino vented loud and proud. He punched and slapped a white tactics board and his squad rejoiced.
From his lowest point to his highest in 60 seconds? Not quite. Pochettino still ranks keeping Espanyol in La Liga as his greatest managerial feat.
Tottenham head back to the Etihad for a Premier League game against City on Saturday
‘It was fantastic to make history, to arrive for the first time since 1962 in the semi-final for Tottenham. But to fight for Espanyol where I played, when my kids are fans of the club, when it’s about people keeping their jobs, that was my best emotion,’ he said.
‘Sometimes people only mention you if you win a title or not, but for me, at that moment, it was more than winning the Premier League, Champions League or La Liga. The pressure is completely different.’
Yet as Pochettino and his spirited Tottenham team continue to defy the odds, who knows where this run will end? Even amid the joy, there were pointed messages for his players ahead of the semi-final against Ajax.
He warned: ‘We need to be humble, for sure, because beating City, nobody expected that, it can give massive belief.
‘But if you are not clever enough to manage that in a good way, you can make a mistake — that victory can make you weaker. It is so important to respect Ajax. They beat Real Madrid and Juventus, so they are more favourites than us — that is a reality.
‘If they are not bigger favourites than us, they are the same level. We must respect them.’