Spurs can defeat Barcelona, with or without Messi: Vertonghen
What's the story?
Ahead of Tottenham Hotspur's Champions League clash against Barcelona, Spurs defender Jan Vertonghen has expressed his confidence in his side's ability to beat Barcelona with or without Lionel Messi.
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Barcelona is set to play host to the Premier League club tomorrow in a crucial game for the Spurs. While the Catalan giants have already qualified for the knock-out stages of the competition, the Spurs still have work to do as the game will determine their future in the Champions League this season.
Mauricio Pochettino's side will have to match Inter Milan’s result at home against PSV Eindhoven in order to make it through to the knockout round of the competition.
The heart of the matter
Despite the mammoth task ahead of Tottenham, defender Vertonghen has expressed confidence in the North London club, stating that they have to win over the Catalan club with or without Messi.
He said (via The Evening Standard), "I wouldn’t complain if Messi is on the bench. But with or without Messi, whatever, we need to beat them."
"Maybe it’s good if Barca rest players, but we have to look at ourselves. Even if they rest players, they can put out an unbelievably strong team."
"We know we have to be top of our game. We’ve shown before we can beat the biggest teams in the world. We put in a great performance last year against Real and at that time they were the best team in the world."
"We need to expect Inter will beat PSV at home and we need to do the same. If they draw, we might be lucky but we’ll look at ourselves first."
What's next?
The game will undoubtedly prove to be more difficult as Tottenham face their opponents at the intimidating Nou Camp. Whether the Spurs will make it to the knockout stages for the second consecutive time remains to be seen.