After a disappointing outing against Arsenal in the Premier League, Jose Mourinho wants the Spurs to win the Europa League tie at any cost. The club is eighth in the league and thus have little to cherish from the season. However, they can turn their season around if they qualify for the next stage in Europa.
Tottenham is already 2-0 up in the tie. Harry Kane’s brace in the first leg proved crucial, but the team knows that beating Dinamo Zagreb away from home will be a tough ask. Zagreb is top of the Croatian league and is in excellent form on their home turf.
Jose Mourinho is not bothered about the away factor though. The Portuguese said that it won’t be a problem since fans won’t be there in the stadium. “No atmosphere. So, that’s not the point”, is what the Special One said.
The Portuguese want his team to think that will start 0-0. He believes if his players consider the lead in the first leg then that can be very dangerous. “The best way to do it is to start the game thinking that this is a game to win. Forget 2-0. It’s 0-0 and from 0-0, you want to win the game. If you arrive at minute 75 or 85 and if you need to look at the aggregate score, then you do it”.
"The game is open. We have to be serious in our approach."
🗣️ Jose on #Sonny, Dinamo Zagreb and playing to win.#UEL ⚪️ #COYS pic.twitter.com/aWCADvQMTj
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) March 18, 2021
He added, “If you arrive at 10 minutes to go and if it’s 0-0 or 1-1, you’re not going to take the risk to try to win the game because you have it in your hands. From the beginning of the game, I think it’ll be very dangerous to give that psychological advantage to the opponent”.
Jose Mourinho during Tottenham Hotspur’s first leg clash against Dinamo Zagreb
Jose Mourinho provides an update on Heung Min Son
It’ll very interesting to see Tottenham’s approach to the game. They have been very poor in the first half against their arch-rivals Arsenal last weekend and anything close to that might cost them. The coach in the press conference clearly stated that Heung Min Son won’t be available for the clash thus ruling a box-to-box player from the XI.
Providing an update on Son, the coach said, “No chance for this match. No chance at all. I even feel it very doubtful for the weekend. I think he needs the International break to recover totally”.
Europa League is the one such trophy which Tottenham can lift at the end of the season. Premier League is out of their reach and they are already knocked out of the FA cup. Even though they are in the finals of the Carabao Cup but they’ll face an uphill challenge from Manchester City.
Spurs also need to win the Europa League this season to play the UCL next season. Cause of the likes of it, Tottenham might fail to win the race to qualify from the Premier League.
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