Tottenham Hotspur defender Juan Foyth will not be available for their Champions League clash against Inter Milan on Wednesday.
Mauricio Pochettino’s side must beat Inter if they are to keep their Champions League dreams alive, before facing Barcelona in their final group game.
Tottenham v Inter Milan: five things you need to know ahead of Spurs’ crucial clash
- The Lillywhites have only faced the Nerazzurri five times in Europe, losing three meetings and winning twice.
- Spurs have taken four points from four Champions League games this season.
- Second-place Inter Milan can qualify for the knockout stages with a win at Wembley.
- Spurs lost their first game to Inter 2-1 at the San Siro despite initially taking the lead.
- Juan Foyth has started Spurs’ last three games but is unregistered for the Champions League.
The decisive fixture will be made more difficult for the north Londoners due to the absence of Juan Foyth from their squad. The Argentine centre-back had started Spurs’ last three games in the absence of Davinson Sanchez and Jan Vertonghen.
He was not included in the Champions League squad due to Uefa rules that only allow 17 non-locally trained players, Spurs have 20.
“It’s a mistake we made, that at this level of football we cannot repeat,” Pochettino said, as reported by the BBC.
“For different reasons, we need to find solutions before the start of the season.”
“I told you we need English players, but it was impossible. Of course now that is the problem and it’s so painful to have players out of the list.
“Now we’re going to finish [the group stage] and then we hope in March we can do a new list and include him in the list for the Champions League.”
Spurs have an enormous mountain to climb
Mauricio Pochettino will be hoping his players can use their emphatic 3-1 victory over London rivals Chelsea on Sunday to spur them on against Nerazzurri.
Milan were also victorious domestically over the weekend. Luciano Spalletti’s side dismantled Frosinone 3-0 at the San Siro with Keita Balde scoring either side of Lautaro Martinez’s 57th-minute goal.
However, the Italians are far from indestructible and have already shown they can be beaten. Before the international break, they were thumped 4-1 on the road against Atalanta.
The Champions League knockout rounds are beginning to take shape. pic.twitter.com/SRLugwhXl8
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Barcelona, who face PSV on Wednesday night, have already qualified for the knockout stages. A win against the Eredivisie side followed by a point against Spurs at Camp Nou would guarantee top spot.
Should Spurs beat Inter, however, a point would confirm the La Liga champions as Group B winners.
The post Why Juan Foyth is not registered in Spurs Champions League squad appeared first on Squawka News.
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