Pochettino reacts to Ronaldinho’s claim that Tottenham will win trophy

Tottenham Hotspur manager, Mauricio Pochettino has reacted to the claim by Barcelona legend, Ronaldinho that Spurs will win this season’s Champions League.

Ronaldinho said: “Why can’t Spurs win the Champions League?.

“Because they don’t have the history in the competition – or because they have never won it before?

“Every team who has won the Champions League had to win it for the first time once.

“Their result against Manchester City, who are one of the best teams and have some of the best players in the competition, showed that they can compete with the best.

“At this stage, they will believe they can go all the way – and if they play as they can then maybe they will.”

Reacting, Pochettino, in his pre-match press conference on Tuesday ahead of Tottenham’s Champions League quarter-final second leg tie on Wednesday night, said he was going to respect Ronaldinho’s claim.

“Wow – he [Ronaldinho] knows a lot about football and I am going to respect him,” Pochettino was quoted by 101greatgoals as saying.

“He was a great teammate when we played together in PSG – we spent amazing time together on the pitch, training ground.

“In football, all can happen; like in life, you must believe and have trust in yourself and your ability and quality.

“It is good that people like Ronaldinho think you have the quality to win. That increases our belief. Maybe tomorrow we will be able to beat an amazing team like Manchester City.”