Pochettino Hails His Team Despite Barcelona Loss

By Max Wise

Tottenham lost 4-2 to Barcelona at the Wembley Stadium on Wednesday, but manager Mauricio Pochettino says he feels proud his players' efforts on the night.

Tottenham went down by 2-0 in the first half, but put up a spirited display, with Harry Kane reducing the deficit before Lionel Messi struck again for the visitors.

Erik Lamela gave Tottenham hope of an unlikely comeback with a deflected effort, but Lionel Messi killed off the hosts with a late finish.

And, Pochettino told the press, after the game, that he was satisfied with the character put up by his charges.

"It was a tough game, but the most important thing was our character," Pochettino told the press after the game.

"When you concede in less than two minutes, it changes completely everything, the emotion becomes tough when you are playing against Barcelona and players like Messi and Suarez.”

"That is why I want to congratulate the team, because we were always in the game, always fighting, never giving up - I feel so proud. I'm disappointed with the result, but the effort was massive.

"But to give that advantage to a team like Barcelona is so difficult to come back from."

The defeat leaves Tottenham pointless after two games, and an uphill task of qualifying from the group, though they have back-to-back games against supposed whipping boys, PSV Eindhoven, in the offing.