The Spurs boss has promised to stick to his attacking principles against the reigning European champions at the Bernebeu.

Tottenham take on Cristiano Ronaldo’s men, level on points with Madrid in Champions League Group H but Pochettino insists he will not shut up shop in Spain.

He explained: “We will try to dominate. We will try to be better but it’s a massive challenge for us to dominate them.

“We will press high, try to play in the opposition’s half, try to be aggressive and brave. That’s how we feel football should be played.

“If they try to push us back deeper, then okay we may have to adapt to their quality.

“But from the beginning we will be brave and aggressive and play to win the game.”

Asked if he would ever park the bus like Mourinho’s Manchester United did against Liverpool on Saturday, Pochettino added: “Everyone in football chooses their way to play.

“You must respect every way. But if you ask me, we are going to Madrid to play football and be Tottenham.

“We do not change because we are playing in Madrid.”

Pochettino has spoken of his desire to make Spurs one of the biggest teams in Europe and believes his young side are ready to play in big games like these.

He added: “The first time is always important, to show that we can handle that pressure and play in that type of game. It’s a good opportunity for us.

“I’m so excited and motivated to go and put on a performance. It’s Real Madrid and we respect them but we go to play.

“We’re excited to play Real Madrid in the Champions League and our motivation is big.

“We’re going to play one of the best teams in the world, if not the best team, and we need to be focussed.

“We want to get to the next round of the Champions League and it’s important we recover from this game.

“It’s a very big challenge and we will go to play and try to win the game.”