Mauricio Pochettino hopes Tottenham will play the home leg of their Champions League Round of 16 tie at the club’s new stadium.
Lucas Moura’s 85th minute strike against Barcelona at the Nou Camp on Tuesday secured Spurs’ place in the last 16 of the competition thanks to PSV Eindhoven’s draw with Inter Milan.
The Londoners will be hoping to go at least one stage further than last season, when they crashed out to Serie A champions Juventus despite an impressive 2-2 draw in Turin.
The draw for the first knockout stage takes place on Monday, and Tottenham could face the likes of Juventus, Real Madrid or Paris Saint-Germain.
Regardless of who they draw, Pochettino is simply hopeful the home leg will be hosted at the club’s new White Hart Lane arena.
“I hope and I wish to play first leg in the new stadium. I don’t know whether it will be there or not, but I hope to play there,” Pochettino said in his press conference on Thursday (via Sky Sports).
“But I don’t believe it is going to be decisive to play at one or the other stadium, the most important thing is our performance on the pitch.
“It would be a massive boost for players and staff to play at the new stadium – but the motivation will be there too, if we play at Wembley.”
January’s Premier League meeting with Manchester United has now been scheduled to take place at Wembley – the Spurs fans will be hoping it is one of the team’s last ‘home’ matches at the national stadium.