FIVE years ago to the day, Tottenham booked their place in the Champions League final with one of the most dramatic, incredible comebacks in football history.
Mauricio Pochettino’s men had trudged off the pitch at half-time in Amsterdam seemingly dead and buried.
Trailing Ajax 2-0 on the night and 3-0 on aggregate, the obituaries of an already astonishing European campaign were starting to be written.
Spurs had recovered from picking up just one point from the opening three group games to squeak through courtesy of a late 1-1 draw at Barcelona.
Then they had trounced German giants Borussia Dortmund in the quarter-finals before taking out Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City with the sort of late drama at the Etihad that had the Spaniard sinking to his knees.
Just when it appeared Tottenham had run out of miracles, that night in Amsterdam came along.
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Without the injured Harry Kane, who spent the night watching on from the stands sat alongside Davinson Sanchez, it was Lucas Moura who completed Spurs’ attacking quartet alongside Son Heung-min, Dele Alli and Christian Eriksen.
The Brazilian had already played a huge role in Spurs’ campaign, having been the man that scored the crucial goal in Barcelona, and he added further efforts in the 55th and 59th minutes of the semi-final second leg to drag his side back into the contest.
As the remaining minutes ticked away it appeared that Tottenham’s suddenly renewed chance was fading, that it would be another glorious failure.
In the final seconds of the five minutes added on, Moussa Sissoko punted the ball forward from his own half. Fernando Llorente made a nuisance of himself, and the ball fell to Dele.
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Tottenham’s No20 expertly flicked the ball into the path of Moura, who with a stroke of his left foot sent Spurs into the promised land.
Five years on from that night, May 8, 2019, we take a look back at where the Spurs XI that conquered Ajax have ended up.
HUGO LLORIS
Tottenham’s long-serving captain Lloris was relinquished of the armband last summer by incoming boss Ange Postecoglou.
He continued to train dutifully until the end of December, when he sealed a move to LAFC, bringing an end to 11-and-a-half years in North London.
Lloris, 37, left Tottenham after 447 appearances for the club, and has since played 11 times for his new MLS team, keeping two clean sheets.
KIERAN TRIPPIER
The Champions League defeat to Liverpool proved to be Trippier’s 114th and final appearance for Tottenham.
He joined Atletico Madrid in a £20million deal that summer, and went on to win the LaLiga title under Diego Simeone.
After two-and-a-half years in Spain Trippier, now 33, returned to the Premier League with Newcastle, where he has since become a key man.
TOBY ALDERWEIRELD
Popular centre-back Alderweireld, now 35, lasted two more seasons at Spurs before departing for Al-Duhail in the summer of 2021.
After a year in Qatar he signed for his hometown team Royal Antwerp, where he memorably scored a fairytale last minute winner to secure their first title in 66 years.
Having brought the curtain down on his international career after appearing at the 2022 World Cup, the veteran remains with Antwerp.
JAN VERTONGHEN
For so long Alderweireld’s partner for club and country, Vertonghen now comes up against him at club level for Anderlecht.
The 37-year-old spent two years at Benfica after leaving Spurs in 2020, before moving back to Belgium.
He is still going strong for his country having earned 154 caps, and even recently returned to Wembley to face England back in March.
DANNY ROSE
Flying full-back Rose’s Tottenham career fizzled out after he fell out with former boss Jose Mourinho.
He was loaned to Newcastle for the second half of the 2019-20 campaign, before being made to train with the kids for the entirety of the 2020-21 season.
Rose, 33, subsequently signed for Watford but played only 16 times for the Hornets. Despite having been without a club since September 2022, the former England star has not retired.
MOUSSA SISSOKO
The Frenchman, who was controversially deemed to have handballed within the first minute of the Champions League final, remained with Spurs until the summer of 2021.
Like Rose he signed for Watford, where he would spend just one season before leaving upon their relegation.
Now 34, the former France international is a regular for Nantes in his third season with the Ligue 1 club.
VICTOR WANYAMA
Having been substituted at half-time in Amsterdam for Llorente, injury-plagued Wanyama’s Spurs career had long been on the wane by that point.
He remained until March 2020, before being allowed to join MLS club Montreal having scarcely featured under Pochettino’s successor Mourinho.
The 32-year-old has gone on to play 123 times for the Canadian side, although he has struggled for action so far this season – making just five cameo appearances as a substitute.
CHRISTIAN ERIKSEN
The Danish midfielder, 32, made his intention to leave Spurs after six years clear just weeks after the Champions League final.
He remained at the club until January 2020 when he was sold to Inter Milan, going on to win Serie A with the Italian side.
At Euro 2020 he suffered a cardiac arrest while playing for Denmark, but has since made an incredible return to action with Brentford and then Manchester United, where he remains to this day.
DELE ALLI
Mercurial midfielder Dele’s importance at Spurs began to decline under Mourinho, a trend that continued under Nuno Espirito Santo and Antonio Conte.
Under the latter the 28-year-old was allowed to say an emotional goodbye to Spurs in January 2022, when he joined Everton – later going on to also have a loan spell at Besiktas.
Dele, who has not played all season due to injury, bravely opened up on the trauma of his past last summer as he revealed that he had been in rehab for an addiction to sleeping pills. He recently reiterated his desire to return to the England fold in time for the 2026 World Cup.
SON HEUNG-MIN
The Korean superstar, 31, is the sole member of this starting XI to remain part of Ange Postecoglou’s squad at Tottenham.
Son recently wrote his name into the history books by becoming Spurs’ fifth all-time leading goalscorer – only behind Martin Chivers, Bobby Smith, Jimmy Greaves and old pal Kane.
Now club captain, the forward is aiming write more history as the leader of a new-look younger Spurs team.
LUCAS MOURA
Hat-trick hero Lucas was left devastated not to start the Champions League final against Liverpool in Madrid.
He stayed at Spurs for a further four years, playing under Pochettino, Mourinho, Nuno, Conte, Cristian Stellini and Ryan Mason before emotionally bowing out at the end of the 2022-23 season.
Lucas, now 31, returned to boyhood club Sao Paulo upon his Spurs exit – where he has since won the Copa do Brasil and Supercopa do Brasil.
SUBSTITUTES
Pochettino first turned to Fernando Llorente in Amsterdam, with the veteran Spanish forward replacing Wanyama at half-time.
The 39-year-old went on to play for Napoli, Udinese and Eibar before calling it a day in 2022.
Erik Lamela replaced Trippier on 81 minutes as Tottenham chased a winning goal.
The Argentine, 32, moved to Sevilla in 2021 in the deal that saw Spurs land Bryan Gil, and he has since won the Europa League.
Tottenham’s final change saw Ben Davies replace Rose on 82 minutes.
The Welshman remains at Spurs and will have one year remaining on his contract come the end of this season.
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Of Tottenham’s unused substitutes that day, Eric Dier left in January for Bayern Munich, Juan Foyth won the World Cup in 2022 and now plays for Villarreal, while Paulo Gazzaniga has been flying high in LaLiga as Girona’s first choice goalkeeper.
Spurs’ other substitute that night was a teenage Oliver Skipp, with the now-23-year-old still at the club.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
