Tottenham Hotspur boss Mauricio Pochettino had nothing but praise for the way his players matched Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu.
The Argentine caused a surprise before the 1-1 Champions League draw by pairing Fernando Llorente up front with Harry Kane, a move that was designed to give the latter more freedom, as he explained at the post-match Press conference.
“Our biggest challenge was to compete against Real Madrid at the Bernabeu and we’ve done that,” he told reporters.
“We must take the positives from this game because it reinforced our ideas and we know we have different options.
“The idea was to give Kane more freedom, with Fernando occupying the centre more, although he hasn’t had a pre-season and came into this behind the rest of the players.
“We thought it was good experience for him and an opportunity to contribute. He was fantastic.”
Pochettino is convinced the Londoners now have what it takes to compete at the very top level.
“This was a great chance for us to show that we are able to play against the very best and in a game of this magnitude it is mentality that is the key.
“We were up against a team that is used to competing at this level, so we are growing all the time and the structure of the club is looking great for the near future.”
