Tottenham Hotspur drew 1-1 with Barcelona on Tuesday night.
Tottenham Hotspur boss Mauricio Pochettino has told the club’s official website of just why he decided to come back out onto the pitch after the full-time whistle against Barcelona.
Spurs went into Tuesday night’s game knowing that they needed a result at the Camp Nou, with third-placed Inter Milan taking on bottom-of-the-group PSV Eindhoven at the San Siro.
Tottenham fell behind early on as Ousmane Dembele raced away from a Kyle Walker-Peters error to put Barca in front, but it all looked to be going okay for Spurs still, as PSV were beating Inter.
However, Mauro Icardi equalised for Inter, meaning Tottenham had to score to go through, and they wasted chance after chance in a stunning second half display, before Lucas Moura finally hit the back of the net for Spurs.
Both games finished 1-1, meaning Spurs advance into the knockout stages of the tournament, having picked up seven points from the final three games to recover from a dismal start to their Champions League campaign.
After the game, Pochettino went down the tunnel but later came back out in order to go over to the travelling Tottenham fans and applaud them for their support at the Camp Nou.
Now, Pochettino has explained why, admitting that he wanted to be ‘respectful’ to everyone who made the trip, and wanted to share the happiness with the travelling fans.
“It was being respectful to everyone and thanking them for their support,” said Pochettino. “There are many, many people here and to share the happiness with them was so important. In all football clubs, the fans are a very important part of the success and key for the club, the team and the players. That’s why I wanted to say ‘hello’ and say ‘thank you’,” he added.
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