Ajax star Donny van de Beek has suggested that he would rather play against Tottenham than Manchester City in the semi-finals of the Champions League.
The Dutch giants stunned Europe on Tuesday night as they knocked Juventus out of the quarter-finals, after previously beating holders Real Madrid in the round of 16.
Ajax will play against either Tottenham or Man City in the semi-finals of the competition, and van de Beek says that the high number of ex-Ajax players in Mauricio Pochettino’s squad is probably why he would prefer to play against the London club.
“I don’t really care,” said Van de Beek, as quoted by De Telegraaf. “But [there are] many Ajax players play at Spurs. That’s nice.”
OPINION
Toby Alderweireld, Jan Vertonghen, Davinson Sanchez and Christian Eriksen are all former Ajax players who are now plying their trade at Tottenham, and as van de Beek says, it would be nice for players at both clubs if they were to draw each other in the semi-finals. Van de Beek didn’t mention it but he would probably prefer Spurs over Man City because Pep Guardiola’s men are a much stronger side. That’s not a dig at Tottenham, even the most hardened of Spurs supporter would admit that City are just about the strongest team left in the competition. Pochettino’s men won the first-leg 1-0 and it will be interesting to see what happens in the second-leg at the Etihad on Wednesday night. Tottenham’s form has improved massively as of late, as have their displays in European football. Man City are unbeatable on their day though, but if Spurs score an away goal on Wednesday, they could be favourites.