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What's the story?
Former Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has given his predictions for the Champions League semi-final second leg clashes between Barcelona and Liverpool as well as Ajax and Tottenham Hotspur.
In case you didn't know
The race to the Champions League final is heating up as the four semi-finalists have played their first leg this week. Barcelona and Ajax came out of the clashes with a decisive advantage and will hope to maintain their momentum going into the second leg.
The Catalan giants established a comprehensive 3-0 win over the Reds courtesy of a Luis Suarez opener and a brace from Lionel Messi. Meanwhile, Ajax bested Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 with a goal from Donny van de Beek.
Compared to the Spurs, Jurgen Klopp's title-chasing team has a mammoth task at hand if they wish to progress to their second consecutive Champions League final.
The heart of the matter
Speaking of the Liverpool-Barcelona clash, Mourinho said (via Manchester Evening News),
"When the result was 2-0, I was still thinking it’s open. When they missed that late chance for the 3-1, I would say open, but 3-0 is 3-0. It’s hard to believe and Barcelona have an incredibly negative experience with Roma recently."
"I know that Liverpool at Anfield is really hard, the team is good, but if Barcelona score one goal, they have to concede five. I think it’s too much and I think the team (Barcelona) is with that appetite. I think Messi is dragging everybody with him for that appetite to make it happen. I think Barcelona has it."
The former Real Madrid boss admitted that the Tottenham-Ajax clash is tougher to predict saying,
"It’s really, really hard [to call]. Looking to the history of the Champions League, Ajax are better away than at home, three victories in England, Spain and Italy, they played against the top countries, even against Benfica, nothing was easy for them and they were magnificent."
"At home, as I was saying, they have their style of play but so do Tottenham and I think Tottenham knows that they also can [progress]."
"To play without [Harry] Kane is difficult, to play without Kane and Son [Heung-min] at the same time is even more difficult and next time at least Son is there. He is an aggressive player, he’s fast, he has transitions and he can hurt people so the game is open."
What's next?
While Liverpool will host Barcelona for the second leg on May 7, Tottenham will travel to the Johan Cruyff Arena on May 8.
