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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Jacob Murtagh

Jose Mourinho makes Ajax vs Tottenham prediction ahead of Champions League clash

Tottenham take on Ajax in the semi-final second-leg on Wednesday hoping to overturn their 1-0 deficit and book a place in the Madrid final next month.

Mauricio Pochettino's men travel to Amsterdam with work to do following their slender defeat in last week's first leg in north London.

Liverpool sealed an unlikely spot in June's final after a dramatic win against Barcelona on Tuesday night, and former Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho has had his say on whether Spurs will be joining their rivals in Spain this summer.

"It's really, really hard [to call]," Mourinho said. "Looking to the history of the Champions League, Ajax are better away than at home.

Tottenham players train ahead of the game (PA Wire)

Mauricio Pochettino drops Tottenham quit bombshell ahead of Ajax second leg

"They've had three victories in England, Spain and Italy, they played against the top countries, even against Benfica, nothing was easy for them and they were magnificent.

"At home, as I was saying, they have their style of play but so do Tottenham and I think Tottenham knows that they also can [progress].

"To play without [Harry] Kane is difficult, to play without Kane and Son [Heung-min] at the same time is even more difficult and next time at least Son is there.

"He is an aggressive player, he's fast, he has transitions and he can hurt people so the game is open."

Pundit Jose Mourinho has given his view (@beINSPORTS/Twitter)

Tottenham's Hugo Lloris on his "massive opportunity" for a dream trophy football

If Pochettino was somehow able to lead his side to glory in this competition - a feat he has said would be a "miracle" - he admits he would have to think about finding a new challenge.

Cutting a prickly figure throughout a press conference at the Johan Cryuff ArenA on Tuesday, Pochettino, who has been linked with jobs at Manchester United and Real Madrid in the last 12 months, hinted that winning the competition with Spurs would leave him looking for "something different".

Asked whether he thought winning the Champions League would have been possible five years ago, he said: "Winning the Champions League? It should be fantastic, no? Close the five-year chapter and go home."

Pushed on the matter further and asked whether he was joking, he added: "It's not a joke, why? To win the Champions League with Tottenham in these circumstances this season, maybe I need to think about maybe doing something different in the future. Because to repeat the miracle, you know..."

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