Ajax coach Erik ten Hag says his side are aiming to fulfil a prophecy by Johan Cruyff by beating Tottenham and reaching the Champions League Final.
Ten Hag’s side go into Wednesday's second leg at their stadium, which was renamed after Cruyff last year, with a 1-0 lead over Spurs thanks to Donny van de Beek’s winner last Tuesday.
The Champions League has been dominated by superpowers Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Juventus in the past decade and no team outside of Europe’s top five leagues have won the competition since 2004, when a Jose Mourinho-led Porto side triumphed.
Ajax are aiming to become the first Eredivisie club to reach the final since they lost to Juventus in 1996 and Ten Hag says legend Cruyff, who died in March 2016, was among the visionaries who predicted a Dutch club would return to the top.
“A few people who knew [about] this level of success said it would still be possible for a Dutch team to reach the Champions League Final again; people like Johan Cruyff, Louis van Gaal and [Ajax sporting director] Marc Overmars,” Ten Hag said. “It’s up to us tonight to prove them right.”
Despite holding a small lead from the first leg, Ten Hag insists Ajax cannot think about drawing tonight.
“Of course we have to win again,” added the 49-year-old.
Meanwhile, centre-back Daley Blind has revealed Ajax did not celebrate their Dutch Cup win over Willem II on Sunday.
The former Manchester United full-back, who has missed just one game for Ajax this season, scored the opening goal as Ten Hag’s side won 4-0 to claim a first piece of silverware of the season.
But he said: “Most [of the celebration] was on the pitch and after that it was timid. We had a little food with the players and went home. This match was in our thoughts.”
Blind added: “I’m not nervous. I think a little bit of healthy tension is good and comparable to the other matches. Just like the other games, and the group phase, they’re all important matches against big opponents and you have to make the best of it during preparation. You have to do that yourself.”
Ajax hope winger David Neres will be fit tonight after a foot problem, but Ten Hag otherwise has a fully fit squad to choose from.
