TOTTENHAM IS ONE OF THE BEST TEAMS IN EUROPE SAYS FIORENTINA COACH SOUSA

Italian side Fiorentina manager Paulo Sousa claims his opponent in Europa League Tottenham are "one of the very best teams in Europe" and has warned his side they must be at their best to beat the Premier League side.

"I certainly feel, and I believe a lot of us also think, that Spurs are one of the very best teams in Europe at the moment. That's from a technical, tactical, mentality and physical point of view. They're a young team, and they're a very hungry team and every time they go out they want to try to impose themselves," Sousa told a press conference.
"In the first game, from the point of view of the stats, we had equal possession, we created a similar amount of opportunities to score. In fact, I think we had better chances and, if anything, we could have won -- even if we didn't deserve to on the night.
"I think tomorrow will be a similar game. We need to play with a high level of physical and mental intensity and we need to play our game. Certainly in the first leg -- despite the fact that Spurs are the team that come from this background and culture of being intense, being very strong and being physical -- we more than held our own and created problems for them by the way we kept the ball moving. What we require is a game where we're at our very best and at our best level of intensity."
"First and foremost Mauricio's mentality and approach is one of someone who always wants to win. I find it hard to imagine a manager going into a game thinking they don't want to win or not being interested in winning a competition. And you can't just focus on one competition.
"You have to bear in mind that Mauricio comes from a very competitive footballing background and certainly he will want to win."
Dele Alli was lucky to escape with just a caution at the Stadio Artemio Franchi after appearing to kick Fiorentina's Nenad Tomovic but Sousa is pleased the teenager is available to play on Thursday.
"All the best protagonists need to be present on the pitch all the time. For the football, it's always good to see the best protagonists.