Tottenham vs Juventus: Christian Eriksen eager to learn from 'test' vs Champions League specialists

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Tom Collomosse4 August 2017

Christian Eriksen has encouraged Tottenham to study Italian champions Juventus as they try to improve in the Champions League.

Both clubs have some of the best players in Europe in their squads, but their performances in continental competition last season were drastically different. Juventus reached the final of the Champions League, while Tottenham failed to escape the group stage.

Ahead of Saturday's pre-season friendly against the Italian champions at Wembley - where Spurs will play their home matches this season ahead of their move to a new ground in 2018-19 - Eriksen believes Juventus have an ideal template for Spurs to follow.

The 25-year-old said: "Nearly all clubs in Europe will be looking at Juventus.

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"They have had a number of different players and have changed coaches, but they have always managed to keep a certain stability and we can learn from it, because we are also on the right path in terms of stability.

"Juventus have always been a top club. They had some bad years in the last decade but they bounced back and they are very strong again. It’s a good chance for us to test ourselves in the environment where we’ll be playing Champions League matches."

Tottenham must show they can handle Wembley this term. That was the venue for European home games in 2016-17 when, after their elimination from the Champions League, Spurs also fell at the first hurdle in the Europa League.

That form contrasted sharply with Tottenham’s domestic displays, when they finished second in the Premier League - securing a club record 86 points - and reached the FA Cup semi-finals. Eriksen was superb in the second half of the season, finishing with eight goals and 15 assists in the League. Yet, the Denmark midfielder knows he must maintain that level throughout the year.

During his four years at Tottenham, Eriksen has usually grown stronger as the season has progressed. Last season, he did not score in the League until November 26 and had registered only three assists at that stage.

Thereafter, he showed stellar form but he said: "I will try to be more consistent through the whole season. I want to be part of the elite in football, even though it is not my job to say whether I am there or not.

"My numbers for goals and assists have been pretty good every season and I want to make sure they keep going in the right direction. I am not someone who looks at the statistics that closely, although you are often aware of how you are doing and how other people in your position are doing.

"We have the potential to do better than last season. We all have one more year of experience, especially in the Champions League. We didn’t play that badly last year in it but we will be more used to Wembley this time. We want to play in this competition every year."

Spurs host Juventus at Wembley on Saturday. Tickets priced £24 adult and £14 child are on sale at ticketmaster.co.uk/spursjuve up to the 5.30pm kick-off and on the gate.