Mauricio Pochettino aware of upcoming Tottenham opponent Mathieu Valbuena

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Tottenham travel to Greek club Olympiacos on Wednesday evening for their opening Champions League group stage match.

After reaching the final of last season’s competition, Spurs would surely love to go one better and win it this time around.

They are expected to qualify out of their group without too much trouble, but their upcoming opponents will play in front of a hostile atmosphere and have some strong individuals.

Manager Mauricio Pochettino has namechecked Mathieu Valbuena as someone that Spurs have discussed ahead of the game.

Valbuena moved to the Greek club in the summer and has been on fire at the start of the season for him.

The experienced playmaker has played nine times across all competitions so far for his new side, scoring three goals and supplying six assists in return.

He is a 34-year-old attacking midfielder with plenty of pedigree and will look to be the creative threat for Olympiacos against Spurs.

“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,” Pochettino said, as quoted by Football.London.

“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.”

TBR’s View:

Spurs will come away with three points against Olympiacos if they play anywhere near their potential, but away games in Europe are usually extremely testing and they need to try come out of the blocks quickly.

With both Liverpool and Chelsea losing in the Champions League on Tuesday night, it proves there is real quality elsewhere in Europe and Olympiacos will be looking to pull off a shock upset.

Valbuena may be in the prime years of his career, but the Frenchman is still technically gifted and it’s up to Spurs to try limit the amount of time he has on possession.