Fansided

Real Madrid fires back at Tottenham’s Mauricio Pochettino

By Jason Cole

30th January 2019, Wembley Stadium, London England; EPL Premier League football, Tottenham Hotspur versus Watford; Tottenham Hotspur Manager Mauricio Pochettino looking out from the dugout before kick off (photo by John Patrick Fletcher/Action Plus via Getty Images)
30th January 2019, Wembley Stadium, London England; EPL Premier League football, Tottenham Hotspur versus Watford; Tottenham Hotspur Manager Mauricio Pochettino looking out from the dugout before kick off (photo by John Patrick Fletcher/Action Plus via Getty Images) /
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As Tottenham prepares to take on Liverpool in the Champion’s League Final, its coach seems to have created a kerfuffle with Real Madrid.

The folks in charge of Real Madrid FC didn’t take kindly to a slight from Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino and slammed him in a long statement issued Friday.

Pochettino, who is leading Tottenham’s preparation for the Champion’s League championship game against Liverpool on June 1, said on a recent podcast Read Madrid President Florentino Perez had denied Pochettino’s request to let the Tottenham players sleep at the Read Madrid complex.

“I asked Florentino to let us sleep in the sports centre, but he told me that I can only sleep there when I become the coach of Real Madrid,” Pochettino said, in what evidently was supposed to be a light-hearted joke.

Read Madrid was anything but amused. This was the response from the club:

“Real Madrid CF are surprised by the statement made by the coach of Tottenham Hotspur, Mauricio Pochettino, about a supposed request made to our club for his team to stay in the residence at Real Madrid City on the occasion of the Champions League final.

Real Madrid C. F. wants to make it clear that it is completely false that this request has been made. Our club has always shown its absolute availability to meet all the requests made by UEFA, the Royal Spanish Football Federation, Club Atlético de Madrid, Liverpool FC and Tottenham Hotspur.

All requests submitted to Real Madrid have referred solely and exclusively to the use of the training pitches at Real Madrid City and the changing rooms. And all of them have been granted by our club.

Thus, Liverpool plan to train at our facilities on Saturday, June 1 in the morning. Tottenham, will do so on Thursday, May 30 and Friday, May 31.

Real Madrid C. F. also wants to emphasise that the accommodation for the finalist teams of the Champions League is assigned by UEFA following organisation and security criteria. At no time has our club received requests that these teams could be accommodated in the facilities at Real Madrid City.

Enjoy your stay in Spain, Totteham.