Mauricio's verdict on Audi Cup victory

Mauricio Pochettino revelled in a 'very positive experience' as we continued our excellent pre-season campaign by lifting the Audi Cup on Wednesday night.

Taking on Bayern Munich in the final at the Allianz Arena just over 24 hours after beating Real Madrid in the semis on the same ground, we produced another eye-catching display full of energy and desire all over the pitch, eventually winning 6-5 on penalties after a 2-2 draw.

Erik Lamela and Christian Eriksen had given us a deserved 2-0 lead against the German giants, but second-half goals from Jann-Fiete Arp and Alphonso Davies saw our opponents draw level.

Then came the shootout, with Academy starlets Jack Roles, Oliver Skipp and Japhet Tanganga all converting their penalties brilliantly while Paulo Gazzaniga produced two big saves - decisively from Jerome Boateng at the end - to win us the silverware.

"It was a very positive experience, I am so happy with the performance and behaviour of the players," said Mauricio. "We are learning a lot and improving a lot every day. I am so happy and we keep going.

"When you play a team like Real Madrid or Bayern Munich, always to live this experience is an amazing thing for the players, for the young players and of course for the senior players to build their fitness and be stronger every day. We are having a very tough pre-season but we are competing very well and if we create this habit to compete really well, of course it's going to help us in the season to try to fight for big things."

On the bravery shown by the youngsters on the pitch and in the shootout, the manager added: "No doubt about that, they showed great character in Singapore and in China playing against Juventus and Manchester United and now against Real Madrid and Bayern Munich. It's clear that we have young players, maybe with not too much experience, but with great character and personality and that is a very important thing."