Dimitar Berbatov: Spurs will win derby and pile pressure on Arsenal in top four race

I was really happy with Spurs’ performance in the 1-1 against Liverpool and I think they’re going to beat Arsenal in the north London derby on Thursday.

Antonio Conte’s men played good football at Anfield and it was a good result against a Liverpool team that had been on an extraordinary winning run. Now, against Arsenal it’s going to be a good game, as it usually is in the derby.

I was lucky enough to play and score in these kind of games. It’s never about form and the position you are in the Premier League. It’s more about the occasion, the rivalry and how much you want to win.

You can lose six in a row before it but still manage to win a derby. For some fans it’s the game of the season.

Mental strength will be key in high stakes derby

The race for the top four only adds to the importance of Thursday’s match. I hope that Spurs will find the strength to win and cut Arsenal’s lead in fourth to one point. If Spurs win there will be big pressure on Arsenal. Going into this match, if you’re not strong in your head then you will have problems.

Players would prefer to have things wrapped up by now and not face an anxious final three matches of the season. But that rarely happens.

You have to fight until the end of the season to reach your goals. This is when you see what you are made of and where you are mentally.

If you think too much and put too much pressure on yourself, you’ll overplay and make mistakes. Spurs need to find that balance between rising to the occasion and playing their natural game.

But a player isn’t alone. You have your teammates out there with you, squad members on the bench, coaches, the medical department. They are all there to help you be prepared and achieve your goals.

It is stressful, there’s a lot of pressure going into a game like the north London derby and, because football is business, there’s a lot of money at stake in the top four race. You have to handle it. This is what you are paid to do.

It’s hard to separate Spurs and Arsenal

Spurs have done the double over Man City and they are unbeaten against Liverpool, they have great numbers and this can give them confidence going into the game against Arsenal.

Spurs are gradually improving in every game. The new players have slotted in comfortably. So in my opinion, of course they can beat Arsenal, but also Arsenal can beat Spurs. It’s a two way street in this one.

Everybody wants to play Champions League football, Spurs have the chance and if they play like the way they have been doing then they deserve to be in the top four. They have to beat Arsenal.

My Bet Builder for Tottenham v Arsenal

Back Spurs to win

Of course, I want to see Spurs win and of course I am biased. This is a massive game for them, and it’s a great opportunity to put the pressure on Arsenal in the race for a spot in the Champions League. The prospect of cutting the gap to one point makes this a must win for Spurs.

Back Son to score anytime

Harry Kane would be the obvious choice to score, but Son has got some incredible numbers this season. The goals speak louder than everything else but in his case it’s the way he moves and runs into the space using his speed, making it easy for Harry Kane to find him.

Everything is there for Son and he’s been the player of the season for Spurs in my opinion. He’s getting better and better, Spurs are lucky to have him and I can see him causing problems for Arsenal.

Back Nketia to have one or more shots on target

Arsenal have a lot of young talented players, and Eddie Nketia is one of them, he’s in great form at the moment and he’ll be hungry to prove himself in the derby. You can see that they are playing the Arteta way of football and you can see that he has worked under Pep Guardiola.

Back both teams to score

I think this will be an entertaining game where both teams will get on the scoresheet, otherwise we will die of boredom, and we don’t want that. Based on what both teams have in attack, I’m sure there will be goals.

Back Berba’s north London derby Bet Builder @ around 6.86/1

Twenty years on and still one of my biggest regrets…

This week, it is 20 years since I played in the Champions League final for Bayer Leverkusen against Real Madrid. I remember it like it was yesterday. I was 20-years-old and I didn’t know what was happening to be honest. When you’re 20 you see football differently, it was a different era for football too.

At 20, you just enjoy the ride and you know that if you get to a final you just want to win it. I didn’t pay much attention to what it actually meant to get to the final of the Champions League, I just wanted to win it.

It was the same that season for the Bundesliga title and the German Cup, which we also lost. We wanted the Champions League trophy to be the reward for our misfortunes domestically.

Football can be f*****g cruel at times. Unfortunately, we didn’t win and it was painful.

We played Real Madrid, who had all those unbelievable players, it was special, although it didn’t finish how we wanted it to. We were so close, I felt we were equal to them in the match.

The season after it, we had the same team and we almost got relegated. Losing that final was a really tough moment for all of us, we were so proud of what we achieved as a team, as Leverkusen.

Nobody gave us any chance, but we beat Liverpool and Manchester United on the way to the final. We were so proud. I tried not to think too much about it, otherwise my head would have exploded.

My only regret from my career is that I didn’t win the Champions League. It was good that I had my first experience of the final at such a young age, because I had time to build on it and get satisfied with everything that came my way, such as getting regular football with Leverkusen, transferring to Spurs and United.

Along the way, it was as if I was being compensated for that loss. I got the chance again, with United in 2009 and 2011, but didn’t succeed. That’s why I say that football doesn’t always have a happy ending.

Witness to a wonderstrike

Madrid’s first was the ugliest goal in Champions League history but the second was beautiful, even though it killed us.

I was just behind Zinedine Zidane, on the half-way line. I saw Roberto Carlos sprinting and he made a cross.

While the ball was dropping down, I saw how Zidane shaped his body to take the shot and at that moment I just knew: Oh f**k, it’s a goal.

The way he hit it, the position of his body was perfect. It was a shame that he wasn’t playing for us. That goal was a worthy goal for a Champions League final. Nothing could have stopped it.

It was a masterful execution from a legendary player. It was painful, but the goal was a masterpiece.

Madrid parked bus to keep us out

In the last minutes of the game we pretty much destroyed Real Madrid with our desire to score a second goal. They parked the bus infront and we were attacking, and attacking and attacking. The crucial moment in the game was when Iker Casillas made his debut. Cesar was in net and he got injured, so, Casillas came on. We tried everything to beat him but he saved it all.

I had a header that Casillas saved and was cleared. I had a shot and it was saved on the goal line. We tried everything but he was unbeatable. We gave everything in the last 10 minutes, but it just didn’t happen.

Zizou got lucky…

I’ve had a couple of opportunities to speak Zidane over the years, when we’ve met each other or have played in charity games.

He doesn’t speak English well, my Spanish isn’t good and even though I played in France, I don’t know much French.

If I could, I’d say to him: “Zizou, that was some f*****g goal, man. Unbelievable, from a great, great player. But, we had you in the last 10 minutes and you are lucky that we didn’t score.”