Joey Barton has claimed that Tottenham can’t win the Champions League this season because of their struggles at Wembley.
Spurs kick off their European campaign on Wednesday when they host German club Borussia Dortmund in the first group stage fixture.
Meanwhile, Real Madrid and Apoel Nicosia face off in the other Group H clash at the Bernabeu.
Mauricio Pochettino’s side are temporarily using the national stadium as their home ground and failed to win in their opening two league matches at Wembley this season.
The North London club used the 90,000-seater last season in European competitions and they crashed out of the Champions League group stages, before losing in the last 32 of the Europa League.
Barton delivered an emphatic response as to why Spurs won’t be able to win Europe’s elite club competition.
“They can’t play at Wembley,” he told radio station talkSPORT.
However, Barton did offer a balanced argument and suggested that they could go close in the competition if they get their tails up.
“If they get their tails up and start to get that belief they’ve had in the Premier League for the past couple of years they can certainly go very close,” he said.
Spurs players are desperately trying to put their Wembley voodoo behind them and dispatching Bundesliga side Dortmund would be a great way to do that.
They are still adjusting to the bigger pitch dimensions and are unlikely to win silverware this season unless they fix it quickly.
Winning the Champions League always requires a good home record and Spurs would need to be efficient in home legs if they reached the knockout rounds.
OPINION
Barton is correct in saying that Wembley could have a massive impact on Spurs’ Champions League chances, in fact it will also damage their Premier League hopes. If Pochettino’s side can get over the psychological problem at Wembley then there is no reason they can’t go and win the the Champions League. They would obviously need a slice of luck along the way, but they have a very talented starting XI that could beat anybody on their day.