Tottenham one of Europe´s best, says Sousa

Fiorentina coach Paulo Sousa has talked up Tottenham ahead of Thursday’s showdown, describing the high-flying Londoners as “one of the very best teams in Europe”.

Sousa’s Fiorentina and Tottenham will clash at White Hart Lane in the second leg of the Europa League round of 32, with the tie in the balance following last week’s 1-1 draw in Florence.

Tottenham have taken the Premier League by storm this season, losing just three games and conceding a league-best 20 goals to sit second in the table, only two points adrift of Leicester City.

Speaking ahead of the winner-takes-all fixture, Sousa said: “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.

“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.”