Tottenham and Ajax defied all forecasts this season and scheduled a semi-final that probably no one in the world of football could have predicted months ago.
The Champions League is a competition of the best and the richest, but what happened was that Ajax outplayed and eliminated Real Madrid and Juventus, that Spurs conceded four goals in the second leg against Manchester City and still made it to the semi-finals...
The London and Amsterdam clubs have directed incredible things this season, so before the semi-final clash it is difficult, almost impossible, to judge who belongs to the role of favorite.
Looking at history, it is on the side of Ajax, the four-time champion of Europe, looking at other aspects, the question arises - how can the third strongest team from the Premier League not be ahead of the leader of the Dutch Eredivisie?
"We have to show respect to our opponent, who fully deserves to be where he is now," Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino said.
Tottenham have a problem - there is no Harry Kane, who probably finished the season, and tonight in the London clash (21 p.m.) there will be no Son either.
The Korean, the team's best player this season, is serving a suspension match, and Kane is questionable even for the eventual final, in which Tottenham would have to fight Barcelona or Liverpool at the "Wanda Metropolitano" stadium in Madrid.
"The key to everything is that we are a real team. We have never depended on an individual. You don't get to the semi-finals of the Champions League very often. That's why we are all excited, but also very motivated," points out Pochettino.
Tottenham are in the semi-finals for the first time since the elite competition was called the Champions League. However, he was among the top four as early as 57 years ago - and in 1962 he was eliminated in the semi-finals by Benfica, who later won the trophy by defeating Real Madrid.
"The semi-finals of the Champions League at the new stadium dreamed of by generations of Tottenham players and fans! We could hardly have wished for better," added Pochettino.
The Argentine then referred to the strength of the "spearmen".
"Ajax showed great quality. They did not lose in the group, they played two fantastic matches against Bayern, then eliminated Real and Juventus. We are similar - no one believed that we would be at this stage of the competition," said the former manager of Southampton.
Ajax opened the season in the Champions League on July 25, in the second qualifying round.
Then he eliminated Sturm from Graz, then Belgian Standard in the third, and he won the elite in a double match with Dynamo from Kyiv at the end of August.
Eight months later, there is a euphoria among fans that has not been seen in more than 20 years.
"The quality of this team is that they always want to be better. No one could even think that a Dutch club would be in the semi-finals of the Champions League, but we are here. And now what? Now we want to go to the final," said Ajax coach Erik ten The Hague.
When asked if Ajax could do better than what they did against Real in Madrid and Juve in Turin, he replied: "What we need to be better at is execution. Remember the first game with Real in Amsterdam and the second leg with Juve. We created many chances and missed them. Luckily, it didn't backfire on us," Ten Haag is clear.
Tottenham's Dutch rivals lie - they have recorded four wins and two draws in their last six games, all after losing to PSV in 2008 in the knockout stages of the UEFA Cup.
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