Tottenham Hotspur boss Mauricio Pochettino: 'Playing Barcelona excites me'

Tottenham Hotspur boss Mauricio Pochettino has said that he is looking forward to facing Barcelona in the Champions League group stages.

Spurs have been handed a tough-looking draw for the second successive campaign, with the North London outfit scheduled to go up against Barcelona, PSV Eindhoven and Inter Milan.

However, Pochettino has insisted there is no negativity about being paired with Barcelona, with the Argentine having previously managed the Catalan giants' city rivals Espanyol.

At a press conference, Pochettino told reporters: "I think when you going to play PSV, Inter Milan or Barcelona that's like last season, the real Champions League. We are going to play every game and they're Champions League games. With the Premier League it's the best league in the world.

"It's so exciting to face this kind of club. Of course it's so exciting. I come back to my town Barcelona. Always it's exciting to play against a team like Barcelona, Inter Milan or PSV. Of course it's a young team PSV but it's exciting to play there too."

Spurs begin their European campaign with a trip to San Siro to face Inter on September 18.