Danny Rose believes Tottenham’s victory over Real Madrid in the Champions League last season proves a win against Barcelona on Wednesday night is possible.
The defender has re-entered Mauricio Pochettino’s good books this season after losing his place in the team last term.
After giving a controversial interview and struggling to recover fully from a serious knee injury, Rose was often ignored in 2017/18 and Ben Davies made the position his own – indeed, it was Davies who started on the left in the 3-1 group stage win over Madrid.
But the Welshman has started this season poorly, meaning Rose will be hoping for a spot in the starting line-up on Wednesday.
And following the disappointing defeat against Inter Milan in the opening round of group stage fixtures, Rose insists Spurs can’t afford to lose to Barcelona.
“It’s a massive game,” said the 28-year-old (via the London Evening Standard). “We have to win. We’re fully aware of that. We’re all bitterly disappointed from how the Inter Milan game finished. Make no mistake we have to win on Wednesday.
“We’ve proved we can do it. We went to the Bernabeu and we were unlucky not to win that game. Then when we played them at Wembley we outplayed them – not just them, Dortmund as well.
“At the minute we’re winning ugly and we’re just waiting for the performance to go with the victories.”
Rose could start in either a back four or as a wing-back depending on the options Pochettino has available to him – Jan Vertonghen is a doubt after being substituted at half-time in Saturday’s win at Huddersfield Town.
