Zinedine Zidane Says Tottenham Helped Real Madrid Win Champions League Last Season

?Former ?Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane has praised ?Tottenham Hotspur and said that Mauricio Pochettino’s side helped his Los Blancos team win last season’s UEFA Champions League.

In an interview with UEFA’s official website, Zidane described the impact that Spurs had on his team – with the London club being the only side his Madrid team couldn’t beat.

Tottenham held Madrid to a 1-1 draw in Spain, then swept them away in a 3-1 victory at Wembley during the Champions League group stages last season. Spurs topped their group, before losing at the hands of ?Juventus in the last 16.

When asked about the team, Zidane said: “They’re a good young team – well-balanced and very committed.

“We didn’t manage to get our game going or deal with the periods where we were on the back foot.”

The Frenchman then admitted that the defeat at Wembley had been one of the driving factors that spurred his team onto winning the competition.

He explained: “Ultimately, that poor performance helped to make us stronger, as we made sure that we learned lessons from it as a team.”

With Spurs fans coming to terms with a summer that saw them sign no players, and having their perfect start to the Premier League season whisked away in a surprise defeat to ?Watford on Sunday, Zidane’s words will offer some real encouragement.

At least in the eyes of one of France’s greatest footballers, the Tottenham team of last season – and therefore also this one – was one of the strongest in European football and a real handful even for Real Madrid.

After the international break, Tottenham face a tough Premier League clash with Liverpool before kicking off their Champions League campaign with a group stage away game against ?Inter Milan.

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