Spurs boss Pochettino refuses to blame Wembley for loss
London, Nov 3 (IANS) Playing at Wembley Stadium is no excuse for English football club Tottenham Hotspur’s “embarrassing” Champions League loss to Bayer Leverkusen, manager Mauricio Pochettino has said.
Spurs lost 0-1 on Wednesday and have now lost both of their European games at the national stadium this season.
Spurs are playing their home Champions League games at the Wembley Stadium instead of their home ground, White Hart Lane, which is being redeveloped.
“There is nowhere better in the world to play football. We were the problem, not Wembley,” Pochettino was quoted as saying by BBC.
Spurs have the option to play all home league and cup matches, as well as any European games, at Wembley next season.
“It is embarrassing for me. After two games at Wembley, Monaco and Bayer Leverkusen, there is no excuse. We were poor and we need to find the answer in ourselves,” Pochettino said.
“We are very disappointed and we cannot show the performance that we have in recent weeks – that is the problem.”
The Leverkusen defeat followed a 1-2 loss at Wembley against Monaco in their opening Champions League game of the season.
Wednesday’s match was played in front of 85,512 spectators, the highest English club home Champions League crowd, but saw Spurs fall to their sixth successive Wembley loss.
Spurs now lie third in Group E behind Monaco and Bayer Leverkusen with two games left to qualify for the knockout stage, away against Monaco and at home against CSKA Moscow.
“We must win, if not we can forget the Champions League,” Pochettino said.
“We need to improve and we don’t have too much time to do that.”
Spurs will return to English Premier League (EPL) action on Sunday in the North London derby against Arsenal.
