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Ajax hosted Tottenham in the second leg of the semi-final match of the Champions League. Ajax came into the game with an advantage after winning the first leg in London 0-1. This was Ajax’s first semi-final appearance since 1996 and Tottenham’s first appearance in this stage of the competition ever. Liverpool won the previous night and both teams were hoping to be able to face them in the final.
Ajax started the game incredibly, by getting a goal in the 5th minute when De Ligt jumped high to meet a corner and head it past Lloris. There were question marks around Pochettino’s tactics as he had Trippier marking De LIgt which was a mismatch in height. Spurs looked out of sorts and Ajax capitalized when they broke down the left-hand side and Tadic laid the ball off for Ziyech who smashed it into the left-hand corner to give Ajax a 2-0 advantage om the night and 3-0 aggregate. Spurs went into half time knowing that they needed three goals in order to go through. Llorente came on to try to provide a more attacking presence for Spurs. In the 55th minute, Spurs started the attack from their half and after some good play from Rose and Alli, Lucas got the ball and slotted it home to give Spurs a slight chance. Then four minutes later Trippier sent in a low cross to LLorente but Onana saved it from point blank range. However, he tried to catch it and Schone kicked the ball out of his hands into the feet of Lucas, who still had a lot to do but used his good footwork to find some space and get his second goal of the night. This sent the Spurs supports wild and all the Ajax supporters were nervy, however, it made the game very interesting. Ajax had a couple of chances to finish the game off, especially when Ziyech hit the post. However, in the 5th minute of added time, a long ball came to LLorente and he cushioned it for Ali who then laid it off for Lucas to score the most dramatic of late winners to send Spurs to their first Champions League final. It was absolute jubilation for the Spurs players, but the Ajax team were absolutely heartbroken and looked crushed.
The final of the Champions League will be an all English final for only the second time. This is why we love football because before Tuesday everyone was saying that it is going to be Ajax against Barcelona in the final, and instead it will be Liverpool against Spurs. Two amazing comebacks in two days. We cannot wait for this final!
