Topping City, stunning Ajax & making UCL final... Poch's top 5 moments at Spurs

Mauricio Pochettino has been sacked as Tottenham manager after five-and-half years in charge of the North London club.

Despite not winning any trophies, the 47-year-old led a successful period at the club which saw Spurs become a heavy-hitter domestically and in Europe.

Let's takes a look at his best moments as a Lilywhite...

1 The cancellation of St Totteringham's Day

For 21 consecutive years, Tottenham fans were left shattered as their North London rivals Arsenal finished higher on the Premier League table. 

It became such a common occurrence Arsenal supporters decided to name the day that Spurs couldn't finish higher in the league standings as St Totteringham's Day.

Pochettino was incredibly close to breaking the curse in 2015-16 but Arsene Wenger's Gunners side leap-frogged them on the final day with Spurs astonishingly losing 5-1 to already-relegated Newcastle, when all they needed was a point.

But the 'holiday' was cancelled the following season when Tottenham beat Arsenal 2-0 at in the last-ever derby clash at White Hart Lane on April 30 to confirm their place in the standings above their heated rivals.

Spurs finished 10 points above the Gunners in that campaign, and have denied St Totteringham's Day happening in the three seasons since also.

2 Knocking off Pep's City and daring to dream

After falling short as Leicester City won the previous Premier League title, Pochettino's Spurs got off to a lightning start during the 2016-17 campaign, signalling their candidacy as championship contenders with a 2-0 victory over Pep Guardiola's Manchester City at White Hart Lane on October 2.

Aleksandar Kolarov's early own goal gave Spurs the lead, before Dele Alli sealed the result before half-time, with the home side even able to miss a second-half penalty from Erik Lamela.

Following this match, Spurs only won two of their next eight Premier League games, in a stretch of results that ultimately meant they finished seven points behind Chelsea at the end of the season.

Pochettino's Spurs only lost four matches for the entire league campaign, which was one less than Antonio Conte's Blues.

3 Victory over Manchester United in the final White Hart Lane match

Tottenham ended the 118-year history of their White Hart Lane stadium with a 2-1 win over Manchester United - a victory that allowed them to finish unbeaten in the league campaign at home.

Victor Wanyama's early strike put Spurs on the path to victory, before Harry Kane added to the advantage in the second half.

Wayne Rooney pulled a goal back for the Red Devils as the match wore on but Pochettino's Spurs were able to say goodbye to their famous venue with a winning result.

With Spurs moving to Wembley in the following season while their new venue was getting built, there was plenty of optimism around their future.

But playing games at a temporary home in 2017-18 proved tougher than first imagined as Spurs dropped to third after two years of contending for the title.

4 Stunning the European champions 

Tottenham's 3-1 win over Real Madrid in the 2017-18 Champions League group stage signalled their arrival as a big club on the European stage and set them on the path to the final in the following season.

A brace to Dele Alli and Christian Eriksen strike put Spurs in a commanding position, with Cristiano Ronaldo's late strike unable to get Los Blancos back into the match.

Pochettino's Spurs ended up topping the group ahead of Madrid, with their only blemish coming in the form of a 1-1 draw against the Spanish giants at the Bernabeu.

Unfortunately, Tottenham were eliminated by Juventus 4-3 on aggregate in the round-of-16 despite holding a one-goal advantage with 26 minutes left to play in the final leg at home.

5 Making the Champions League final

Pochettino led Tottenham to their first ever Champions League final during the 2018-19 campaign - which they lost 2-0 to Liverpool.

Spurs were undone by a Mohamed Salah penalty in the second minute and despite pushing for an equaliser for most of the match, the result was sealed when Divock Origi popped up with three minutes to play.

The achievement of getting a team to the Champions League final is not to be underestimated - especially when the club was unable to buy a single player to boost squad depth during the previous two transfer windows.

To reach the final, Spurs negotiated a group of death featuring Barcelona, Inter and PSV in an extraordinary finish, with Lucas Moura's late goal at the Camp Nou earning a draw, while the Italians somehow failed to defeat the Dutch at home, as the English side went through with a better head-to-head record.

They then swatted aside Borussia Dortmund 4-0 on aggregate in the round-of-16 before completing two amazing away goal victories in the quarter and semi-finals.

A 94th minute Raheem Sterling goal was chalked off by VAR for Manchester City, as Spurs incredibly won the quarter-final on away goals following a 4-4 scoreline after the two legs.

In the semi-final against Ajax, Lucas Moura scored a 96th-minute winner, completing his hat-trick, to send Spurs through on away goals following a 3-3 result across the two-leg tie.