Mauricio Pochettino Rues Early Goal, Praises Lionel Messi After Barcelona Loss

Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino reserved special praise for Barcelona forward Lionel Messi after his team's 4-2 loss in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday and said the Catalans' early goal ruined any tactical plans Spurs had to stop them. 

Per MailOnline's Adam Crafton, Pochettino thought his side did a good job of slowing down Messi initially, but the early setback gave the Blaugrana too much of an advantage:

"I want to congratulate the team, because we were always in the game, always fighting, never giving up.

"We didn't concede one chance to Messi in the first half. In the second half, with a lot of space, it is unbelievable how he runs. We played with the handicap of conceding after one minute. Our players were heroes because they were chasing the game against Messi, (Luis) Suarez, (Philippe) Coutinho and Co. Lucas Moura could have equalised for us. Then you would have said we are heroes and the manager is the best in the world.

"I'm disappointed with the result but the effort was massive. But to give that advantage to a team like Barcelona is so difficult to come back from. The most important thing was our character."

Sky Sports Premier League shared footage of the press conference:

Barcelona came into Wednesday's contest at Wembley winless in their past three but turned on the style. Philippe Coutinho scored early on―courtesy of a blunder from goalkeeper Hugo Lloris―and the Spanish champions doubled their advantage via a stunning strike from Ivan Rakitic.

Harry Kane momentarily restored hope for the hosts, but Messi stole the show with a brace. Between those two goals, Erik Lamela also scored for Spurs.

After the match, most analysts and fans were buzzing with Messi, who put together another vintage performance. Sports writer Matt Spiro thought it put Eden Hazard's great form into perspective:

It marked Tottenham's second straight defeat in the competition and leaves the Premier League side with plenty of work to do in their group. Inter Milan joined Barcelona on six points in Group B after their win over PSV Eindhoven, and the Italians will like their chances of keeping Spurs at bay.

Barcelona appear to have kicked into gear at a crucial time, with the double-header against Inter on the horizon and several tricky La Liga matchups to come. They travel to Valencia on Sunday and also take on Sevilla and Real Madrid during October.