Eriksen, Kane and Lamela on our comeback in Turin
Wed 14 February 2018, 12:01|
Tottenham Hotspur
Character and personality - the key words from Turin after our comeback and display against Juventus in the Champions League Round of 16 first leg on Tuesday night.
Trailing 2-0 inside 10 minutes against a team that had conceded one goal in 16 matches, we stormed back from that stormy start to dominate possession against the finalists of 2015 and 2017.
Harry Kane pulled a goal back, Gonzalo Higuain then missed the chance of a hat-trick by hammering a penalty against the crossbar and we eventually secured a 2-2 draw thanks to Christian Eriksen's clever free-kick.
It sets it up perfectly for the second leg at Wembley on Wednesday 7 March.
Here's what goalscorers Harry and Christian and Erik Lamela, making his first start in the competition since October, 2016, had to say at the Allianz Stadium.
Christian Eriksen
Overall thoughts...
"We had a lot of chances but with the start in mind, the first nine minutes, we can be very happy with the result in the end. We were disappointed with the first goal, a set piece in the middle of the pitch where it shouldn't really be possible to score, but a great finish and then okay, the penalty happens. After Harry scored to make it 2-1 we got the belief back, then the second penalty took it away but he missed it and that gave us the confidence for the second half."
On his free-kick...
"I had a free-kick at the weekend against Cech where I should have gone the goalkeeper's side but he read it. I had a feeling...I saw the wall move, I thought I saw Buffon take a step as well and luckily I changed my mind, aimed for the other corner and it went in. I really couldn't believe it first of all, but it was a good goal."
They don’t concede a lot of goals so to score two goals here is massive for us.
Harry Kane
Overall thoughts on the game...
"We showed massive character. It was the worst-possible start we could have imagined. That’s football and sometimes you have to deal with situations like that, especially away from home."
On the mentality after going 2-0 down...
"We knew we had to calm it all down and settle into the game. Thankfully we did that. We started to dominate possession, get hold of the ball and get into pockets. They started to tire a bit and we created chances. It shows how good we are when we’re on our game, playing our football. We can now take that confidence into the home leg."
Erik Lamela
On being able to come from 2-0 down in Turin...
"We showed real personality in this stadium, where it’s very difficult to play against Juventus. We showed we wanted the result. I think at the end we deserved it. It’s very difficult to play Juventus here but we showed we play very good football, like we always do and that we were there to win the game. It didn’t matter that we were playing away."
