Champions League: Tottenham star reveals Mauricio Pochettino's message to the players before comeback against Ajax

Ajax v Tottenham Hotspur - UEFA Champions League Semi Final: Second Leg
Ajax v Tottenham Hotspur - UEFA Champions League Semi Final: Second Leg

What's the news?

Tottenham starlet Danny Rose has revealed that Mauricio Pochettino asked the team to draw inspiration from Liverpool's win against Barcelona.

In case you didn't know...

Tottenham defied the odds to overturn a three goal deficit in last 45 minutes of the game against Ajax in the Champions League semi-finals. Goals from captain Matthijs De Ligt and Hakim Ziyech in the first half of the return leg gave Ajax a 3-0 aggregate lead but a sensational hat-trick from Lucas Moura helped Tottenham pull off a miraculous comeback.

Moura struck twice in the span of five at the start of second half before scoring the winner in the last minute of injury time, which helped Tottenham qualify to the finals on the basis of away goals. Ajax's amazing came to an end thanks to Moura's brilliance but Pochettino himself did an amazing job with a relatively lower budget than most European heavyweights.

On the other hand, Liverpool managed to pull off one of the greatest comebacks of the Champions League just a day ago. Going into the second leg with a three goal deficit, the Reds inflicted a crushing 4-0 defeat at Anfield without the likes of Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino.

The heart of the matter

Rose revealed Pochettino's message before the crucial game against Ajax.

Speaking after the match, the defender said,

"We saw Liverpool last night. It goes to show it's not over until it's over. We were disappointed with the first leg how we started and we started like that tonight. But after the break we came out."
"The gaffer mentioned Liverpool's display at the hotel before the match - the gaffer doesn't mind us losing but we have to lose the right way."
"We're lucky we've gone through and we look forward to the Champions League final."

What's next?

Tottenham will face Everton in the last fixture of Premier League campaign before facing Liverpool in the Champions League finals next month.

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Edited by Kingshuk Kusari