Redknapp hails ´great night´

Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp sang the praises of his players after they qualified for the Champions League quarter-finals on Wednesday.

In their first ever season competing in Europe’s most prestigious club competition, Spurs reached the last eight after a 0-0 draw against Milan at White Hart Lane was enough to give them a 1-0 aggregate victory over the Italians.

Milan had the better of Spurs on the night but couldn’t find the vital goal to send the match into extra time, Tottenham’s defence holding on much to the delight of their manager.

“It’s a great night for the players and fans,” Redknapp said.

“It’s a great achievement for this club to be in the last eight of the Champions League. It’s amazing what the players have done.”

Redknapp admitted the away goal from the first leg at the San Siro put Tottenham in a tricky situation as they abandoned their normally aggressive brand of football in order to protect their lead.

“We worked our socks off and stayed with them. It’s a difficult situation because when you come home and you’ve got that one-goal lead you try to protect it, but at the same time, it’s not like you go for broke,” Redknapp said.

“You’re always aware that you want to hang on to that lead and it was very difficult.”

The Spurs boss also admitted he would like to avoid Barcelona in the quarter-finals and praised Milan for their impressive performance.

Milan manager Massimiliano Allegri also thought his side played well, but admitted mistakes in the first leg had cost his side, as had the absence of poacher Filippo Inzaghi, who is sidelined with a knee injury.

“My players all did well but unfortunately we are out,” Allegri said.

“We made mistakes in the first leg on their counterattack with just a few minutes to go. Today my players did all the things they had to do. We played a good game with a high tempo and good passing, but unfortunately the goal never came.”

“We missed a forward like Filippo Inzaghi. There were many balls passed into the box and he would have taken advantage of them.”