Moussa Sissoko has promised that Tottenham will repeat their heroics from the Etihad Stadium in next week’s uefa Champions League clash at Ajax.
Spurs must win in Amsterdam to have a chance of reaching their first European Cup final. Mauricio Pochettino’s side trailed City 1-0 and 4-2 in their quarter-final return leg a fortnight ago but eventually progressed on away goals despite losing 4-3 on the night.
Sissoko says Spurs will take inspiration from that performance. “We’re not scared of any teams,” said the France midfielder. “We qualified against Manchester City, one of the best teams in the world. Not many people believed in us but we did it.
“It’ll be the same against Ajax. We lost, everyone knows it’ll be difficult because they have a lot of quality but I’m sure we can go to the final.
“We were close to going out [at City] but we always believed we could do it. A game is 95 minutes, sometimes more, so you have to believe until the end. We’ll believe until the end at Ajax. We can score a lot of goals.
“The players don’t listen to what people are saying on the outside.
“We did everything to be here, now we have to give everything without regrets.”
Spurs were fortunate to trail by just a single goal at half-time. However, Sissoko’s introduction for the stricken Jan Vertonghen after 39 minutes swung the game in Spurs’ favour.
Sissoko said: “I cannot be too happy with my performance because we lost. I tried to add a lot of energy. We didn’t start well. We weren’t aggressive enough, we played a lot of long balls, we didn’t play as we’re used to. I was positive in my mind. I said if I had the opportunity to come in, I’d give everything. That’s what I’ve done.
“Frustrated? Yes. Not with the manager but because it was the semi-final of the Champions League.
“Every player on the bench was frustrated not to play but I wasn’t 100 per cent fit to start.”
Vertonghen is a serious doubt for Saturday’s trip to Bournemouth and the return leg in Amsterdam next Wednesday, and Spurs were also assessing Kieran Trippier this morning after the defender finished the match clutching the back of his leg. Heung-Min Son will return for the second leg after serving a one-match ban.
