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Do you still think about the Champions League final?

Of course it was a a long period after the final in Madrid. Being honest I was thinking a lot during the summer. To finish that way, in the final is always so painful because you can’t put out the feeling of losing the last game of the season. You have to wait until you start again to repair the damage. But now that will be a massive challenge for us.

It's so exciting to start a new campaign in the Champions League and to be here in Greece. It's an amazing stadium and it's going to be unbelievable atmosphere. When you are professional at this type of level you wait for these type of games. I think not only me but the players too, are so excited to spend another season playing in the Champions League.

Do you think you're viewed differently across Europe now after reaching the final or are you still outsiders?

No one today will think of us as one of the contenders to be in the final in Istanbul this season but that is normal. That makes it very exciting. We know very well to repeat the same campaign as last season we need to play in our best. It is so early to start to talk about the final but most important is to show our quality, our squad quality from tomorrow and give our best.

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I don’t care if people think that we are contenders or not because we went to the final and have a possibility to fight for this title. To be honest I don’t care. I am only trying to be focused on winning tomorrow and starting this Champions League in a good way.

With some of your big players reaching the end of their contracts is this the last big adventure with this current Spurs team?

You never know. In football anything can happen. Now is a moment to talk about to be focused on improving our performance. Only the beginning of the season and a lot of time, of course a few players start the last year of their contract but that is in the hands of club and the club will take the best decision to be the best and competitive every season.

The trust is massive. Now I think that for all of those players affected that's in the past and the squad is so focused on trying to perform in our best way. At the end of the season we see what happens.

Now theres still a lot of work to do. I am so happy now in the way we're working and the commitment the players show whether it's five years or two or one year left on their contract, they all show their commitment to the club. That’s very good news for us and the club. For sure were going to give our best and for fans and everyone to feel proud about us.

Do you want to keep the momentum from the weekend or are you going to change things up?

We have an unbelievable squad, a big squad, and like in the last few years it’s not about the names who will play tomorrow or Saturday. It’s about the squad and about Tottenham. We need to perform in our best way to challenge and want to be contenders in four competitions. We need all the players to be ready to fight and to play.

In 21 days we play seven games and all need to be ready to play. We are going to use all the players. If not, it is impossible to keep the level we want to show for every single game. Of course when you have a big squad and big names it's so unfair to only play with 11 and you need to give games to the players.

Tomorrow there will be changes for different reasons but the focus must be in the quality of the collective performance and be sure we are going to perform in our best way.

Do you consider yourselves favourites in this group with Bayern Munich and if so are you obliged to win?

We cannot talk in different way, a few months ago we played the final of the Champions League and Olympiacos will put us in this level of favourites for the game. But I respect the opposition a lot and the history and I know the atmosphere is going to be tough here.

In this type of game you need to show why you are favourites as soon as you start the game. If you are better than opponents then ok, you need to show you were better but before the game in the Champions League you always need to show full respect to every single team and Olympiacos are a very good team. Their record here in this stadium in Europe is so good and it’s going to be tough atmosphere, it's the first game of group stage and the motivation and excitement will be high.

They have good players and if we are not focused and don’t take the game in our best we are going to suffer. But of course if you see last season we played in the final of Champions League so it’s normal people think before the game, Tottenham is one step above Olympiacos but in the end you need to show it on the pitch.

(Image: Tottenham Hotspur FC/Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images)

You've spoken about the atmosphere but what challenge will Olympiacos bring tactically?

Of course I love to play in this type of atmosphere. I am Argentinian and I love to play like this when the fans are tough like the atmosphere will be tomorrow. Tactically it will be tough. We know how they play with the quality they have, a Portuguese manager in Pedro Martins who loves to play good football from the back, moving the ball quickly and we know each other very well.

The key is to match their motivation and try to dominate the game. Both teams have similar philosophy trying to play football. It will be important if we are able to dominate the game and try to stop them in the transitions, stop them to run, to force them deeper, there are a lot of things we need to do to beat a team like Olympiacos. It will be a really, really tough game.

Are there any Olympiacos players you will be paying attention to?

We know very well the whole squad but one player I think we talked about, because he's French, with Hugo [Lloris] is Mathieu Valbuena and other different player who can be decisive tomorrow. But more important is the collective, their philosophy and the way they player. That's more important than individuals. We always analyse the opponents, not only do you focus on the tactical point of view but individuals like Valbeuna, who is one of the key points for Olympiakos.

You made a bad start to the Champions League last season, what will you be telling your players this time around?

I sign to start the same as last season and be in Istanbul. My answer is that but we know it is so important to start by winning. Always in football, you can be aware, you can talk and work but tomorrow when we kick-off at 7.55pm you need to show our quality. What happened last season happened but you cannot translate one season to another.

In football it is not about talking but showing. We need to show tomorrow that we learned from the past and hopefully start this group stage in a good way, by winning.