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As footballing days go, Tuesday was a rather decent one for everyone connected with Tottenham Hotspur.

A brief morning walk through Dortmund city centre in the morning was enough to see the German Football Museum, along with its voting machine asking if you thought 'that goal' went over the line in 1966, and to spy a few Spurs fans arriving at the main train station across the road.

Time was sparse because Tottenham U19s' match against Borussia Dortmund was kicking off at the Bundesliga club's sprawling training complex on the edge of the city.

Spurs' Hotspur Way training ground can rightly claim to be one of Europe's best, but the BVB complex runs it close. It has pitches galore, stretching as far as the eye can see, and as the taxi was pulling into the complex, we had to wait for a string of cars driven by the Dortmund first team stars to exit first.

The manager Peter Bosz was followed by Kagawa, Gotze et al in their very expensive cars, many of course German.

The U19s match was taking place on a training pitch, albeit one with a large stand to house spectators, scouts and this journalist. It was a stand that most of England's lower league professional sides would be delighted to call their own for their first teams.

When the match came, Spurs' youngsters were superb, perhaps surprisingly technically far superior to their hosts, who included the former Manchester City youngster Jadon Sancho, once linked with a move to north London, among their ranks.

Tottenham's front four of Samuel Shashoua, Marcus Edwards, Paris Maghoma and Kazaiah Sterling tore Dortmund to shreds every time they flew forward. Shashoua and Maghoma in particular were top class, with the latter just 16-years-old, as Spurs ran out 3-1 winners and the lead would have been bigger but for a Brandon Austin goalkeeping howler and a missed Edwards penalty.

A 45-minute wait after the final whistle for my taxi to return allowed me plenty of time to observe the young Spurs stars of the future as they emerged from the changing rooms.

Big things are being expected of 17-year-old Oliver Skipp by the academy coaches and in every way he is the perfect Pochettino player. He was playing in the UEFA Youth League last season as well.

On the pitch, the defensive midfielder is skillful, tactically intelligent, determined and never stops running and hassling the opposition. Despite his age - he only turned 17 in mid-September - he dominates much older midfield opponents in the club's U19 and U23 matches. He rattled the crossbar with a brilliant shot from distance in the first half at Dortmund.

Off the pitch, his maturity was clear. There were a couple of German football fans hanging around outside the changing rooms, looking for some selfies with the young Tottenham starlets.

Skipp stopped and spoke to one in particular for a while, asking the supporter plenty of questions about himself as well as he then began to clean his boots under an outdoor tap.

When that was done and it was time for him to leave, he asked a female member of the support staff if she needed help carrying some of the team's bags to the coaches. She declined, but it gave a glimpse of the type of player Pochettino wants at his club.

The Argentine wants to mould Tottenham Hotspur's identity in his own image - hard-working, ambitious types without egos who put others' interests before their own - a talented collective of players rather than individual stars.

It may seem like tiny details - taking the time to talk to fans and offering to help others - but allied to his undoubted skill with and without the ball, it's one of the reasons why Skipp stands a great chance of progressing through the ranks.

Pochettino is keeping a close eye on him and there's a bit of Harry Winks about him in terms of his intelligence, distribution and work-rate in the centre, but still only being 17 he's likely to continue to grow into a more physically dominating player than Spurs' latest England international.

Anil the taxi driver, a German of Kurdish descent, finally returned and, after tales of driving Ousmane Dembele around Dortmund and his own dream of visiting Old Trafford one day, he dropped me back at the Signal Iduna Park.

The day before the stadium had seemed imposing enough despite the empty stands as we watched Spurs' open training session. Packed with yellow shirt and flags the next evening it was something else.

The flags unfurled and waved in the Yellow Wall, Dortmund's massive single tier south stand, were impressive, but you couldn't help imagining how gutted the people must be who bought their tickets and got to their seats only to realise they'd be watching what they could of the match through a windscreen wiper effect of a giant yellow flag sailing back and forth.

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The match itself was your classic game of two halves. Spurs threatened another dismal performance like the one at the Emirates in the first half, but were inspired by Kane's instinctive leveller to turn the game on its head, break the hosts' fragile confidence, and secure Tottenham's place as the winners of the "Group of Death" with a game still to play.

Pochettino came into his press conference with a grin on his face. It was his 100th victory as Tottenham boss and his team had proved once again that they can take on and beat the big boys in Europe.

I asked him whether he feels people forget how young his team is - Dele Alli, Davinson Sanchez and Harry Winks all just 21 - and how impressive it was for so many young players to show calm heads in such a big game and tough atmosphere.

His answer was classic Pochettino. He told me he'd always believed in these young players and one match would not change his "perception" of them in either way. He explained how proud he was of everything they had achieved and what had been built at the club.

Pochettino also chose to praise Danny Rose while answering a question about Alli, perhaps shocked that nobody had actually asked him about the left-back for once.

Then he left with his assistant Jesus Perez, heading back to England to prepare for yet another game and another press conference, such is the flurry of fixtures right now.

It was a fine day for the players - U19 and first team - and for the club's manager and staff, but the final words must go to the Spurs fans.

English football supporters get a bad rap in Europe, a hangover from the past shames of a violent minority. Among others, the Tottenham supporters have been playing their part in changing that image and have been a credit to the club and the sport across the Champions League group stages.

They have cheered on their team loud and clear from Cyprus to Spain to Germany and they've never stopped singing those catchy songs for Pochettino and his players.

They were still chanting the Dele Alli song long into the night in Dortmund and at the airport waiting for their flight home the following day.

This Champions League campaign has been one adventure after another so far for Pochettino, the players and the fans. Where will it take us all next?