Tottenham vs Ajax: Spurs stars still confident of reaching Champions League final

The likes of Lucas Moura and Moussa Sissoko are confident of overturning their opponents in Amsterdam next week

Tottenham Hotspur have already produced two scarcely-believable European away rearguards this season to keep themselves in the Champions League. So why should they not produce a third next Wednesday?

Spurs are no-one’s favourites to win in Amsterdam, to beat Ajax and reach the first European Cup final in their history. But then not many expected them to get a result in Barcelona in December to scrape out of the group stage. Or to survive a full-thronged Manchester City assault in the Etihad last month and reach the semi-finals. But they did both of those, showing reserves of character and intelligence that were not always associated with this side. So the players know, as they prepare for the latest biggest game of their lives, that at the very least they do have a template.

That was the mood of the Spurs camp late on Tuesday night, after the 1-0 defeat to Ajax that could have been worse. Ajax dominated the first half, and could have killed the tie on the night. But they did not, and Spurs will be a different side next week with Heung Min Son back up front. He was the man whose two early away goals at the Etihad were ultimately decisive. Two of those on Wednesday night and the feel of the tie will be very different.

Lucas Moura thinks that that second leg in Manchester was the greatest game of his life, and believes Spurs can recreate the same spirit to turn over Ajax next week. “The spirit against City was amazing, was unbelievable, and we need to play like that,” he said. “We went there and played against City and we did a very good game. We were strong mentally, because it’s important. And now we need to do the same. Run, fight. Like I said, we can go there. I believe in my team-mates. Let’s rest well now, prepare for the next game and believe always.”

Moussa Sissoko helped to turn the game around, even though he was only fit enough to start on the bench. With 90 minutes of his energy and presence in Amsterdam, Spurs can still win. “I believe we will go to Amsterdam and come back with qualification because I know the quality of this team,” he said on Tuesday night. He takes pride from how many people Spurs have surprised this season. “We have proven it a lot of times this season. We’ve had plenty of injuries but we still won some games and we still played some good games. That means we have a strong team and a lot of character.”

Spurs may not get to this stage again for quite a while, and that is a drive to the players to take this once-in-a-lifetime chance. They want to give everything they can to be in Madrid on 1 June for the final. One away goal to level the tie and suddenly everything can change. “That is why we are going there to play the game,” Sissoko said. “Otherwise we might as well stay in London, give up and let them quailfy. One-nil, things can happen. A game is 90-95 minutes and a lot of things can happen. Look at when we played Man City in the second game. In 20 minutes there were five goals. Who could believe that? No-one.”

It just takes some belief. Moura spoke about how Mauricio Pochettino tore into the players at half-time on Tuesday, telling them that they were showing Ajax too much respect, giving them too much space, and that they had to bring more intensity and pressure to the game in the second half. And it worked, as Spurs stemmed the flow and started to ask questions of Ajax instead. “Like I said, we gave them too much space,” Lucas said. “And we didn’t play like we are used to playing. But he spoke to us, he did some changes. You know Mauricio, he loves to touch our minds and to motivate, he is so good at this. That’s why we changed in the second half and we played much, much better.”

Now Pochettino and the players must produce something even better than that next week. “We need to enjoy this opportunity,” Lucas said. “Because against a team like Ajax, if we don’t score, after [then] it’s complicated. But it’s still open, it’s not finished. I think we can go there, we can do a good game and we can win.”