Mauricio Pochettino challenges Tottenham to clear final hurdle and completely change club's future

Mauricio Pochettino has challenged his Tottenham team to clear the final hurdle and completely shift the course of the club's future.

Pochettino has been in charge of Spurs since 2014, guiding them back to the Champions League last term after a five-year absence and shaping the club into a Premier League force.

Tottenham's 1-1 draw at the Bernabeu earlier in October signalled their arrival at Europe's top table while a 4-1 victory over Liverpool days later reinforced their domestic threat.

But subsequent defeats to West Ham and Manchester United have uncovered chinks in the Spurs armour and Pochettino has urged his squad to bounce back against Zinedine Zidane's side.

Victory against Real would put Spurs into the knock-out stages and in a strong position to progress as group winners. After travelling to Dortmund, they finish at home to Apoel Nicosia.

"That's the last step we need - mental," Pochettino said on Tuesday. "It's not about training harder or running more. The last step is mental for us as a club and it's about working hard to change everything in the future."

It would appear a good time to play the European champions, who slipped to a shock LaLiga defeat against Girona on Sunday.

They will also be without injured trio Gareth Bale, Keylor Navas and Raphael Varane at Wembley but Pochettino is taking nothing for granted.

"We're not going to watch anything related to Girona. We only analyse the Champions League games and 15 days ago when we play against them," Pochettino said.

"I think Real Madrid have the capacity and quality to change completely in two days."