As the vast Wembley Stadium began to empty and the North London fans left in disappointment, Yang Yang sat on a windowsill in an unassuming room somewhere inside the stadium, drinking mineral water with a faint smile on his face.
Across from him, Pochettino raised his glass of red wine and drained the fine vintage in one go. He even clicked his tongue twice before grumbling, "What a lovely wine! If I'd known you weren't drinking, I wouldn't have opened it. What a waste!"
Yang Yang laughed. "Doesn't that just mean more for you?"
"I bought this wine!" Pochettino reminded him emphatically, his voice full of resentment.
His team had just drawn 2–2 with Ajax in this stadium. Although they had earned their first point of the group stage, they had also lost all hope of qualifying, while the draw had given Ajax a considerable advantage in the race to advance.
Unless Ajax suffered crushing defeats in their next two matches, qualification looked highly likely.
Of course, Yang Yang still dared not let his guard down. He knew their next opponents, Bayern Munich and Inter Milan, were both stronger than Ajax. Two straight defeats were by no means impossible.
Yang Yang had invited Pochettino to have an open, honest conversation two weeks earlier, but now Pochettino himself had made it happen.
The two sat in that unassuming room, watching the crowds stream out of the stadium as they discussed all sorts of things.
With Tottenham Hotspur out of contention and no chance of facing Ajax again that season, Pochettino freely offered his assessment of Ajax.
"Your double defensive midfielders are a fatal weakness. You could put the first goal down to chaos in the penalty area, but the second clearly came from inadequate protection in midfield. Your center-back had to