The fact that Mauricio Pochettino did not win a trophy while in charge of Tottenham Hotspur was often used as a stick to beat him with. 

Indeed, despite the fact he completely revamped a team who had struggled to get over the sale of Gareth Bale in 2013 after joining a year later, the lack of trophies and trinkets was frequently discussed. 

Tottenham fans, however, will always have the memories. 

That night in Amsterdam will be talked about for years, representing the high point of the club's upwardly mobile project that helped turn the likes of Harry Kane and Dele Alli into household names. 

The final, of course, was anti-climactic. 

One-nil down to Liverpool within a minute, Spurs proved unable to trouble their opposition until Divock Origi doubled the scoreline with minutes to play, largely representing the end of the Pochettino era in North London. 

While he did continue until November 2019 after June's loss in Madrid, his last few months in the job proved difficult, leaving the 3-2 win in the Dutch capital in May as the last great moment under his watch. 

Speaking on his reaction to losing the final when interviewed on The High Performance Podcast in 2020, Pochettino revealed that he didn't actually view it as a failure. 

"I'm very proud to help a club like Tottenham achieve the Champions League final," he said. 

"I think it made an unbelievable season but, at some point, really sad because it was a great opportunity for us to be in the history of football. 

"If you lift the trophy, you are very successful but [finishing] second is a failure - no.

"But we have no thinking like this. Of course that makes you very sad." 

Considering some of the problems the team have endured under Jose Mourinho - his direct replacement - looking back on these comments seems pertinent. Spurs may be in a Carabao Cup final but whether or not that means as much as the journey to the Champions League final is certainly up for debate. 

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