Tottenham aim to seal their Champions League quarter-final berth against Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday, with what Mauricio Pochettino believes is an unfair advantage.
Spurs are leading 3-0 from February's first leg at Wembley, but Pochettino is unhappy that the Bundesliga leaders have had more time to prepare for both games.
They played 24 hours before them for the first leg and then played on Friday night compared to Spurs' lunchtime kick-off ahead of the second leg in Germany.
🇩🇪💪 Final preparations.#COYS ⚪️ #UCL pic.twitter.com/QHRYqv476U — Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) March 4, 2019
Pochettino has called on the authorities in England to help their clubs in the Champions League by giving them better domestic fixtures ahead of big fixtures.
"I think we need help from the FA, we need help from the Premier League, I don't know because I am not involved in the decisions," the Argentinian said.
"I don't know whether to blame the FA or to blame the Premier League or to blame Tottenham because we changed the day because we still not deliver our new stadium or the TV because they wanted us to play live on Saturday.
"Look what happened with Rennes in the Europa League. They cancelled their game at the weekend to help or provide Rennes to play against Arsenal.
"In Europe, the FAs are more sensitive to help the club to compete in the best way in Europe.
"I would like to play in the same situation as your opponent. That is the most important, you have the same day to prepare for the game.
"I think that is not fair and it is a problem that in the future it is a thing we need to change if we want to help the English clubs be stronger in the competition.
"We need to be more sensitive to the clubs who play in Europe to provide better condition to have the same possibility to arrive to the games."
🎙️ Mauricio: "It's important to start the game at a very good level – be aggressive, fight from the beginning, high-tempo, that's key."#COYS ⚪️ #UCL pic.twitter.com/CuMEkbC1H0 — Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) March 4, 2019
Pochettino will not allow that Red Letter Day at Wembley three weeks ago, where his side blew Dortmund away in the second half, to come into his thinking ahead of the return leg.
The Argentinian is demanding that his side go on the front foot against Lucien Favre's side.
"We need to play like always we play, trying to win, that is important," he said.
"We need to forget the first leg, it's important to be aggressive, fight from beginning, high tempo, that is going to be the key.
The impossible is not Borussia. pic.twitter.com/tRYtNniLEV — Borussia Dortmund (@BlackYellow) March 4, 2019
"We know Borussia Dortmund is a great team, top of the Bundesliga because they deserve to be there."
Dortmund boss Favre knows turning the tie around is going to be a big ask.
"We know it will be very difficult but you never know," he said. "We have already played many games in this stadium where we have written history and we are in a position to achieve the impossible."
ga('create', 'UA-72310761-1', 'auto', {'name': 'pacontentapi'});
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'referrer', location.origin);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension1', 'By Jonathan Veal, Press Association Sport, Dortmund');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension2', 'cccf4aae-dcfa-48f1-b298-8c5645f13947');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension3', 'paservice:sport,paservice:sport:club-news,paservice:sport:football,paservice:sport:uk,paservice:sport:world');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension6', 'story');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension7', 'composite');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension8', null);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension9', 'sport:football');
ga('pacontentapi.send', 'pageview', { 'location': location.href, 'page': (location.pathname + location.search + location.hash), 'title': 'Dortmund have an unfair advantage in Spurs tie, says boss Pochettino'});
