Pochettino will relish clash with Ernesto Valverde

By Dermot Corrigan

Tonight’s Champions League Group B game against Barcelona at Wembley should be extra special for Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino — for reasons stretching back to his playing career, and forward towards his future ambitions.

As a former player and coach at Barca’s local rivals Espanyol — and potential manager of their Clasico adversaries Real Madrid - Pochettino should not lack motivation for a game which comes just as his long-term prospects at Tottenham look increasingly uncertain.

The former Argentina international defender spent nine seasons in two spells playing at Espanyol, winning the Copa del Rey in 2000 and 2006.

The Catalan capital’s other La Liga club often feel slighted by their bigger neighbours, with many at the Camp Nou ignoring them and considering Real Madrid as their main rivals.

The relationship has also worsened in recent decades as Barca have been associated with moves towards Catalan independence, while Espanyol are seen [rightly or wrongly] as the club of those who would prefer to remain in Spain.

Espanyol’s scrappy mindset suited perfectly the teak-tough defender turned clever tactical mind - especially when Pep Guardiola was on the Barca bench.

As a player he had one win, eight yellow cards and one sending off in 13 derbis. There was just a sole victory from eight cross-city games during his time as manager.

But he savoured that rare triumph, as he told Marca this week ahead of taking on Barca for the first time since leaving for England.

“I am motivated as a ‘Perico’, and having lived so many years in Barcelona,” Pochettino said. “Winning any game is nice, but even more so when you beat Barca, as it means something huge. We will battle to our limit.”

Pochettino’s desire at Wembley on Wednesday may also have a personal element. It was current Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde who ended his playing career, cancelling the club captain’s contract when he took over as Espanyol coach in June 2006, due to a feeling that the outspoken veteran would be a challenge to the new manager’s authority.

“When Valverde arrived at Espanyol he decided he did not want me for the following season, as he believed that I ruled the dressingroom,” Pochettino wrote in his book, ‘Brave New World’, published last year.

“The reality was just the opposite. I had supported the previous coach, Miguel Angel Lotina, even when I did not agree with him at times. But in football sometimes you do not know who are the good guys or the bad guys.”

“I spoke with Valverde. It was difficult to accept, but with time I understood it had all been for the best.”

In another twist, Valverde’s long-term future as Barcelona coach is now being questioned following just two points taken from their last three games against Girona, Leganes and Athletic Bilbao. Pochettino’s close friend and former sporting director at Espanyol, Ramon Planes, is now in the Camp Nou hierarchy.

The 46-year-old also played for Newell’s Old Boys in Lionel Messi’s home city of Rosario, and at one point almost had a teenage Messi as a teammate at Espanyol.

But Pochettino has said previously that he would prefer to return to work on his family’s farm in Argentina than manage Barcelona. And in Marca he firmly ruled out becoming Messi’s club coach at the Camp Nou - “Of course not. That is something which is more than clear. I have many friends in Barcelona, who are azulgrana fans and I have enormous respect for them. But my path and Barcelona’s are in different directions, opposing directions, so it would be impossible.”

That fits with a widespread feeling in Spain that, should Pochettino return to La Liga at any point, it will be to take over at Real Madrid.

Bernabéu chief Florentino Perez is known to be an admirer of his pugnacious anti-Barca stance, and to have followed closely his progress in England, including the fiesty jousts with now Manchester City manager Guardiola.

It is quite possible that had he not signed a new long-term contract with Tottenham, just days before Zinedine Zidane surprisingly resigned as Madrid coach last June, he would currently be preparing a Los Blancos’ side for October 28’s Clasico at the Camp Nou.

“These things happen in the world of football - rumours, situations that appear when you least expect it,” Pochettino said this week when asked about the events of early summer.

“It all counts as experience for a young coach like me, with the ambition to go as far as possible. It is all motivation and means that we are doing good work and drawing attention. We have won respect, which is good.”

Perez was also impressed by Tottenham’s set style of play, a high tempo and physical approach, as they beat Madrid 3-1 at Wembley and drew 1-1 at the Bernabéu in last season’s UCL group games. Recent results have not been so positive, with the three consecutive defeats against Watford, Liverpool and Inter recently leading to further focus on Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy not strengthening the squad at all last summer due to cost over-runs at their new stadium.

“Expectations are always rising and you want to improve every year,” said Pochettino, when asked how he could expect to compete with teams who spent hundreds of millions each summer.

“But that is the reality of our club at the moment. We are the only club in Europe which has not reinforced. We must live with that, not use it as an excuse. We need to try to be creative and find solutions, not to use it to evade responsibility.

“Anyway, our start in the Premier League is better than last year. The only thing worse is that we lost our first Champions League game.”

Tonight’s reprisal of his previous role of chippy underdog against Barca is one that fits Pochettino’s personality pretty well.

Although the 46-year-old clearly has ambitions to be the bigger beast in the fight at some point.