Pochettino: "I have a weakness for Zidane as a player and now as a coach"
The Tottenham Hotspur manager said Real Madrid have shown themselves to be the best side in the world in the last number of years with their success.
Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino speaks of Real Madrid with great respect in a yet-to-be published interview with Bein Sports for Universo Valdano. The Spurs' manager sits down with host Jorge Valdano before his side take on los Blancos in the Champions League.
Pochettino shows his admiration for Real Madrid but also said they will do absolutely everything to win the game at the Santiago Bernabeu in the Champions League. The Spurs manager also admitted to having a "weakness" for Zinedine Zidane as a player and a manager and hailed Real Madrid as the best team in the world. "It's obvious that we will use the weapons we have to try and play well and win, because we are going there to win. We will try to win. Madrid, in the last few years, have shown they are the best team in the world. They have shown it and sincerely, I have a weakness for Zidane; as a footballer and now, as a coach, too," he said.
The manager also spoke about his time with Marcelo Bielsa and his path through LaLiga with Espanyol, a club where he spent three formative years as he put himself in a position along with the elite up-and-coming managers at the time. "The passion is the same as that of a Bielsa team. It is the best way to describe it. I always say that he is the one person in my life that has convinced me to continue on with determination; to be a footballer and to want to be a manager," he said.
"Espanyol played a bit role in my life. I had a lot of luck because in different moment in my life, I found good people, who knew me and really cared about me," he said of his time with the Barcelona-based side.
Finally, Pochettino analysed the situation in the Premier League regarding the signing of players and referred to "giants like United and City" and said that "the difference today between clubs in the Premier League is that there are teams, like City and United, who sign who they want and when they want and, after that, you have big clubs, like us, and we sign when we can and who we can. This is the big difference today."
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