Mauricio Pochettino once upset the odds by storming Barcelona’s Nou Camp fortress and he believes he can do it again.
Tottenham manager Pocettino, fortified three wins in eight days, insists Spurs’ dismal record at Stamford Bridge, where they have not won since February 1990, will have no relevance on Wednesday.
Pochetinno recalled one of his finest hours as a manager five years ago when Espanyol brought their neighbours crashing back to earth in La Liga.
The Spurs boss said: “Espanyol had not beaten Barcelona in the Camp Nou for 27 years. It was my first season as coach of Espanyol and also the first season that Pep Guardiola was in charge at Barcelona.
“It was very satisfying because I had played at Espanyol for 11 years. It was a very special victory.
“How did we do it ? I don’t know! But we had unbelievable players – I remember Ivan de la Pena scored two goals. I remember it was only the third or fourth game that I was in charge and I had started to set a different style on Espanyol.
“Barcelona were at the top and the plan was to press high and to surprise them. They had Ronaldinho, Eto’o, Henry, Yaya Toure, Abidal, Puyol, Iniesta, all in their prime, and they were surprised how we played.
“And, of course, you always need to be a little bit lucky – but we won 2-1 and it was an unbelievable memory.
“This time it will be difficult to surprise Mourinho because he knows me and I know him and, generally, in football it is difficult to surprise another team.”
Although Pochettino bowed and curtsied to Jose Mourinho in deference, he insisted the Special One’s unbeaten leaders were not invincible.
He added: “I don’t read about our record at Chelsea and I’m not interested. For us it is important to go there with the same mentality that we showed against Everton on Sunday.
“The past does not affect the present – we know Chelsea are the best team in the Premier League so far, and they have an unbelievable squad, but their record against us makes no difference to me personally. I always believe in my team and we are going there to win.
“For me, Mourinho is one of the best, if not the best, coach in the world. I have full admiration for him and it’s difficult to be objective.
“I don’t know if he is more calm (second time around at Chelsea). Maybe now he is calm because he is top of the Premier League, top of his Champions League group and in the quarter-finals of the Capital One Cup.”
Pochettino must decide whether to maintain Harry Kane’s partnership with Roberto Soldado as a twin strike force or revert to a lone forward – which could mean a surprise recall for fit-again Emmanuel Adebayor, who returned from international duty with back and hamstring niggles.
England Under-21 striker Kane covered a monumental 13km of ground in the 2-1 win against Everton and Pochettino said: “It is unbelievable that one striker ran 13km in one game.”
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