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Danny Rose has discussed what Tottenham’s incredible Champions League quarter-final victory over Manchester City in 2019 was like from a player’s perspective.
Man City were favourites to go all the way in Europe that season and would end up winning an unprecedented domestic treble.
However, they were shocked by Spurs in the quarter-finals of the Champions League. Mauricio Pochettino’s side won the first leg 1-0 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and prevailed on away goals after losing 4-3 at the Etihad Stadium.
The thrilling tie is best remembered for its dramatic conclusion. Raheem Sterling thought he had scored a 95th-minute clincher, only for it to be ruled out for offside following a VAR check – one of the first instances of technology being used to reverse a major decision.
Rose started both legs of the tie, though was substituted for Ben Davies late in the day at the Etihad and was on the bench at the time of Sterling’s disallowed goal.
Speaking exclusively to 90min, Rose gave the inside track of that famous night.
“Man City, I wasn’t worried about playing them at home because since I was at the club, we’d always had good games against City, so I was never worried that. But we sort of felt that we may have needed maybe a 2-0 cushion going into the away game and we only won 1-0,” he said.
“But in the end, one was enough. The game at the Etihad, it was unbelievable. It had everything that I think, goals, the disallowed goal at the end.
“I’d been subbed because I think that was the third time we’d played in ten days. I was absolutely exhausted. I came off the last 10 minutes and they scored, and I’m sat right next to the City fans and they gave me so much abuse!
“So I put my jacket over my head and you’ve seen all the staff running down the tunnel…it was like scenes I’ve never seen before in football.
“And time’s [still] going on, it goes to VAR and you’re hoping that we’ve been lucky. And it turns out that we had, so I took the coat off and I started giving the fans a little bit of stick!
“In terms of emotions, I’ve never, ever experienced anything like it. I’m not sure we’ll ever see anything like it again. It was amazing. The game was pretty special as well.”
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