The tale of the magnificent youth Ajax side cannot be overemphasized. The incredibly, Ajax began their Champions League campaign on 29th July last year against Dynamo Kyiv and had to fight through three qualifying rounds after finishing runners-up to PSV in last season Eredivisie.
With which they fought their way to the last four of the competition is even more daunting as the team is much younger than any other team in the competition and have lesser budget against the big guns in which they didn’t only beat but showed them why their philosophy is great to watch and admire.
However, after this magnificent Ajax was knocked out, by another low budget team, compared to the other big guns in England and the rest of Europe. Tottenham Hotspur evolves as the true fairy tale of the season Uefa Champions League.
For the club that spent so much on its new stadium, Tottenham Hotspur, who haven’t signed a player since Lucas Moura in January 2018 and are at a significant financial disadvantage to at least five other English clubs, let alone Europeans big guns have made the last two of the prestigious club competition is a significant upsetting of the apple cart in a competition increasingly dominated by a cabal of wealthy European super-clubs.
That they will face Liverpool that boasts of one of the expensive backlines in Allison and Virgil suggests the cart has been overturned completely, if only temporarily.
Moreover, the importance of Ajax, in the stretch of the Spurs progression to the finale cannot be understated. The Eredivisie giant is a European grande but has become a club largely concerned with developing, nurturing and selling talent in recent years.
Few clubs have been greater beneficiaries of that model than Spurs, for whom ex-Ajax players Christian Eriksen, Jan Vertonghen, Davinson Sanchez and Toby Alderweireld are key men.
Beyond the superlative of facing the big guns in the competition, like Ajax who faces Bayern, Madrid, Juventus; Spurs face the likes of Inter, Barcelona, Manchester City. While Spurs are in the dire situation of not advancing through the group stage, thanks to Coutinho’s woodwork, they advanced.
And when many gave them no chance against their league rival as the citizens have enough fire-power to hurt Spurs, they advanced. Even after they are trailing 3-0 against the incredible Ajax team, Spurs score the necessary 3goals in the last 45minutes by there the last signing in 2018, which ensures their safe advancement to the final of the competition.
Beyond the infield success of running to the champions league final, Spurs have had to suffer, building their Theatre of Art. It’s amazing that Spurs are in the last two without adding to their squad and while also coping with so many injuries.
A combination of late goals, VAR, perseverance, and a new stadium have gotten them through against all odds in true fairytale fashion. The journey of the giant killers, Ajax, has been labeled a fairytale by many, but Spurs, have a more dramatic and enduring story to tell compared to the magnificent Ajax side.