Chelsea as good as Real Madrid, says victorious Pochettino

Spurs condemned Jose Mourinho's team to just their second league defeat of the campaign, with the head coach especially pleased with striker Harry Kane

Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino hailed his side's victory over Chelsea as he believes they are among the best teams in the world - as good as European and world champions Real Madrid.

Harry Kane and Nacer Chadli starred as the White Hart Lane outfit ran out 5-3 winners to inflict the second league defeat of the season on Jose Mourinho's side.

And though Pochettino believes the Blues are on the same level as Champions League holders Madrid - who are currently in the midst of a 22-game win streak in competitive games - he is not getting carried away with the victory.

"The most important thing today is to congratulate my players for a great effort and our supporters too. We deserved the victory," he told reporters.

"We were better than Chelsea and that’s the most important thing for me. For me it’s only three points. It’s a good victory against one of the best teams in the world.

"We are in a process and we need to believe. Victories like today, you can improve more quickly. Situations always change very quickly in football but we have improved a lot in the last few months and I think we are stronger now.

"It’s difficult to find a weakness in the Chelsea team. They are one of the best in the world, at Real Madrid’s level. They have a lot of international players."

Kane scored twice as well as claiming an assist and winning a penalty, with the 21-year-old surpassing 20 goals in all competitions this season in the process.

And Pochettino believes his forward is doing enough to earn an international call-up, though he warned against rushing him into England action.

"I think he put in a great performance but not only him. The team performance was great," he added. "We need to be careful with him, he’s still young. But at present it’s impossible to hide him because of his performances.

"We try to help him improve every day and if the national team manager wants to include him, it’s not my decision. We give all players the chance to improve. Harry is still young but he is starting to show his quality."