After Tottenham Hotspur lost 3-0 to Borussia Dortmund in the Europa League Round of 16 first leg at the Signal Iduna Park, Arsenal’s kit manufacturers Puma took a dig at their north London rivals. Puma are also the official kit suppliers for Dortmund.
A goal from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and a brace from Marco Reus sealed the result for Thomas Tuchel’s side on Thursday night and the Bundesliga side now have one foot in the quarter-finals of the competition.
Soon after the final whistle, Puma Football’s official account congratulated the Dortmund side but opted to bring the rivalry between Arsenal and Spurs into the picture and referred to the Lilywhites as the ‘other North London team’.
Spurs criticised for playing second-string lineup
Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino has been under fire for fielding a starting XI without the likes of Harry Kane, Erik Lamela and Mousa Dembele on the bench. The 3-0 drubbing only saw irate fans criticise the manager after spending so much money on travel and tickets to Germany only to be treated to a team who rolled over under Dortmund’s onslaught.
But the Argentine manager said he had no regrets over his decision to field a weakened team and even sought to justify his team selection.
“No regrets,” Pochettino explained. “I’m very disappointed with the result but we didn’t have a very good day. It was a bad day in the office.
“When we analysed the squad and picked the starting XI, we tried to win the game. It started OK, but it was a really bad day for us.”
