Mauricio Pochettino watched from the stands as Tottenham Hotspur succumbed to a 5-2 rout at the hands of Atletico Madrid in the Champions League.
The La Liga challengers and the Premier League titans clashed at the Riyadh Air Metropolitano on Tuesday evening in a first leg last 16 clash. And former Spurs boss Pochettino was spotted watching from the stands amid speculation he could return to the club.
Pochettino is currently in charge of the United States national team ahead of their home World Cup in the summer, but many expect the 54-year-old to step down following the tournament. The former central defender's deal expires later this year, and last month, he admitted that he is open to anything after that.
During a radio interview with “Radiogaceta de los Deportes” on RNE in Spain, he said: “I’m always linked (to clubs), to Tottenham, just like at one time I was linked to Espanyol, or to other clubs. In the end, especially because of my past at those clubs, when things aren’t going well, people tend to fall back on emotions and say, ‘Well, with Mauricio we played good football,’ or whatever it may be.
"But no. We’re focused on the World Cup, on the United States. My contract runs until after the World Cup, so after that we’ll see what might happen. Open to everything, right?”
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The veteran coach has previously led Tottenham out at the stadium in Madrid's capital, guiding the team to the Champions League final there in 2019. Spurs lost to Liverpool in the showpiece event, and a matter of months later, following a tough start to the season, Pochettino was sacked and replaced by Jose Mourinho.
However, if Tuesday evening's showing is anything to go off, then Pochettino may have his work cut out for him should he decide to revisit north London. Marco Llorente opened the scoring for Atleti just six minutes into play, before Antoine Griezmann doubled down less than 10 minutes later.
Julian Alvarez made it 3-0 a minute after the restart as Igor Tudor watched helplessly from the sidelines, before Robin Le Normand scored to make it 4-0 to the hosts with just 22 minutes played. Despite Pedro Porro inspiring hope in his club by pulling one back moments later, Spurs headed down the tunnel at half-time with a 4-1 deficit to overcome in the second-half.
Alvarez seemingly put the game to bed 10 minutes into the second period of play, before Dominic Solanke bagged all but a consolation goal as the game ticked down - the Lilywhites leaving the Spanish capital with a 5-2 loss for their troubles.
Spurs have seen a merry-go-round of managers since Pochettino's departure, with Antonio Conte, Nuno Espirito Santo, Ange Postecoglou and Thomas Frank all shown the door in the time since. Interim boss Tudor is already under pressure with Spurs in a relegation battle.
Pochettino has endured a mixed time since his Spurs exit. The US coach lasted just over 18 months at Paris Saint-Germain as he won Ligue 1 in 2022 and was only employed by Chelsea for 12 months before parting ways with Spurs' rivals.
His presence could yet pile on pressure for Tudor as he goes in search of his first win. The Croatian knows the Premier League is his priority, however.
"We need to do our best in terms that we need to grow, as you said also. Because our first aim is the Premier League - this needs to be said publicly, this is a normal thing - this is something extra," he said.
"But that doesn't mean that we don't want to pass and don’t want to go to the next round."
