LONDON - Jose Mourinho apologized publicly to Eric Dier who was pulled off the field in the 29th minute when Tottenham Hotspur against Olympiacos on matchday five of the Champions League, Tuesday, November 26, evening.
Tottenham's new manager, who replaced Mauricio Pochettino last week, replaced midfielder Dier in the first half with Cristian Eriksen when his side were two goals behind.
The decision turned out to be right because the Spurs were able to reverse the situation in the second half to wrap up a 4-2 victory while ensuring qualification for the knockout round.
Delle Alli narrowed the gap by scoring a goal in first-half injury time. At the next interval, Harry Kane scored two goals in the 50 'and 77' minutes which was complemented by a Serge Aurier goal in the 73 '.
This victory is of course a special gift for 'The Special One' who made his European debut with the Spurs. But the Portuguese coach confirmed that the first words that came out of his mouth during the conference session were to apologize to Dier for replacing him with Eriksen too soon.
"The first thing I want to say, is apologize to Eric Dier," said Mourinho as quoted by the Mirror, Wednesday, November 27.
"It is not easy for him, and for the staff. This is for the team and to find solutions. It will never be easy, it is about the team and not about the individual," continued the racist.
Meanwhile. In this match Kane was recorded as the fastest player to score 20 goals in the Champions League. The captain beat Italian legend Alessandro del Piero's record in Europe. However, he admitted that he was frustrated with his team's game when the match had just started.
"It was a disappointing start, we knew that and didn't play with any energy and they got two goals and put us under pressure, it was an uphill battle but we achieved the goal and it was great to qualify," Kane told BT Sport.
"We have to be calm especially after scoring the goal. We don't need to rush and we have a little freedom and enjoy it a little bit more."
Apart from the Spurs, there are two other teams who also qualified for the knockout round. They are Real Madrid and Manchester City. Even though they only drew 2-2 with Paris Saint-Germain, Sergio Ramos et al qualified as Group A runners-up.
Then came 'The Citizens', who progressed to the last 16 after a 1-1 draw with Shakhtar Donets. City won Group C.
These three teams follow three other teams that have already qualified since matchday four. They are PSG, Bayern Munich and Juventus.
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