Spurs’ Pochettino laughs in the face of hectic schedule

REUTERS – Manager Mauricio Pochettino has laughed in the face of an adverse schedule that will see his Tottenham Hotspur side return from a 12-hour round trip to play Qarabag in Europe just two days before they face Chelsea in the Premier League.

Spurs must board a six-hour flight to Baku in Azerbaijan for Thursday night’s Europa League game, and return on Friday to begin preparations for Sunday’s London derby against Chelsea, who face a 10-hour round trip for their Champions League clash against Maccabi Tel Aviv in Israel on Tuesday.

Jose Mourinho’s men are 15th in the Premier League table, trailing fifth-placed Spurs by 10 points, but will have at least two days more than Spurs to recover from their European exertions.

Tottenham’s Europa League commitments have already seen them play three games in six days this month, although they did not have to travel out of England for any of them, and Pochettino is aware that the next few days will be even more challenging.

“I laugh. I only smile,” Pochettino was quoted as saying by the British media when asked about his team’s schedule.

“Again, like it was the week when we played Monday (against Aston Villa), Thursday (against Anderlecht) and Sunday (against Arsenal), three times in six days. And now it’s the same.

“Maybe it’s worse because you need to fly nearly six hours and then there is the decision about whether to come straight back or stay.

“It’s very difficult because both decisions are bad.

“Maybe we come back, straight back, and we give the players the day off on Friday.

“Maybe you need to wait two hours at the airport and for us, it’s better to go straight after the game and get to England as soon as possible, and give maybe Friday off for recovery.

“It’s the always the same problem. All the clubs in the Premier League at the beginning of the season want to play on TV because it’s a business.

“But when the moment comes to play we complain. The balance is difficult,” he added.

Spurs lead Europa League Group J by a point from Monaco, and will go through to the knockout rounds if they come away from Baku with all three points.

(Reporting by Simon Jennings in Bengaluru; editing by Sudipto Ganguly)