LONDON, ENGLAND - NOVEMBER 01: Mauricio Pochettino, Manager of Tottenham Hotspur and Zinedine Zidane, Manager of Real Madrid shake hands following the game at the UEFA Champions League group H match between Tottenham Hotspur and Real Madrid at Wembley Stadium on November 1, 2017 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)

Former Real Madrid manager and historic Champions League treble winner Zinedine Zidane has suggested that Tottenham helped Real Madrid win the Champions Lague last season.

In a recent interview Zizou suggested that the quality of Tottenham in their match against Real Madrid is what forced Real Madrid to up their level to that necessary to win the Champions League for the third straight time.

The suggestion of this is incredibly flattering from the historic Frenchman and something that is probably true.

The world of football learned a lot about Tottenham last season during their time competing in the Champions League. Where Tottenham have for long periods of time been considered lightweights in the European game it was in their matches against Los Blancos that they did the most to change that. They were brave, strong and brilliant going forward. It is the sort of character that they have begun showing in England for several years but hadn’t quite brought about in Europe yet, with that obvious exception being Bale vs Inter 2010.

Zidane commented in the interview:

“They’re a good young team – well-balanced and very committed…We didn’t manage to get our game going or deal with the periods where we were on the back foot. Ultimately, that poor performance helped to make us stronger, as we made sure that we learned lessons from it as a team”

It is performances like this that have many in the world of football beginning to change their tune about Tottenham and it is nice for the supporters to see such complimentary discussion coming from such an iconic figure.

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That is why it is important to continue to be hard on Tottenham in times such as this. They’re a team with the potential for greatness. Less than that simply can no longer be accepted. For those in the middle who aren’t supporters simply football professionals and purists Tottenham represent something positive about a game that has entered an unlovable time of monetary motivation and cynicism. They are a young team with homegrown players playing football the right way and who are competing despite not spending a fortune. For the sake of football Tottenham in many ways need to prove that it can be done and are on the path to doing so.

It is wonderful for football that someone like Zidane is publically recognizing that work of Daniel Levy and Mauricio Pochettino. Spurs should push on from this not simply for their faithful but for the sake of football.