Mauricio Pochettino won’t let Tottenham Hotspur’s disappointing exit in the Champions League at the hands of Juventus impact what he wants to achieve in north London.Tottenham were on course to reach the quarter-final of the tournament before Juventus scored twice through Gonzalo Higuain and Paulo Dybala to secure a 4-3 aggregate victory.But Pochettino remained dignified in defeat, insisting he is proud of his players.“I still am a dreamer,” the Spurs boss reflected.“Today for us we lost but, in the way we lost, I am happy, I am very proud of my players.

“Look, for me football is not a nightmare.

“In football you can win or lose, we respect our idea, we played football and we created a lot of chances. But in the end it was not enough to win the game. That is all."

That’s exactly what Tottenham supporters will want to hear from their manager.

Allegri's second-half subs paid off

Yet it was an opportunity for Spurs to show that they belong in the latter stages of the Champions League; that they are on the rise.

But the game turned when Juventus boss Massimiliano Allegri introduced Kwadwo Asamoah and Stephan Lichtsteiner on the hour mark.

“We must give credit to those two substitutes because they changed the game,” Allegri said after the match.

He wasn’t wrong. Within eight minutes of their arrival, Juventus were 2-1 up.

Joey Barton tweeted at full-time

The reigning Italian champions managed to see out the match and will now feature in the quarter-final of the Champions League for the fourth straight season.

Tottenham fans can point to their defence faltering on the big stage but Joey Barton has a more honest assessment of last night’s proceedings at Wembley Stadium.

Barton wrote on Twitter that Pochettino was simply outcoached by Allegri in the second half.

“Max Allegri just straight up out coached Poch in the 2nd half,” Barton tweeted.

“Shift to a back 4 threw Spurs and allowed Juve to steal the momentum.

“Then the big game experience shone through after that. Spurs should improve for the experience.”

It’s hard to disagree with anything he said. Pochettino waited until Juventus were leading 2-1 to make any changes, introducing Erik Lamela and Fernando Llorente, but neither were able to help Tottenham find the goal they needed to extend the tie to extra-time.

He’s also right when he says Tottenham should learn a lot from the encounter.