Harry Redknapp has suggested that he believes Tottenham will beat Liverpool when the sides meet in the Champions League final in Madrid.
Tottenham and Liverpool both reached the Champions League final in dramatic fashion, with Spurs scoring three second half goals in their semi-final second leg against Ajax to make it through, and Jurgen Klopp’s side overturning a 3-0 first leg defeat against Barcelona in the return leg at Anfield.
However, Tottenham’s road to the final in Madrid has seen more than just one dramatic comeback, with Mauricio Pochettino’s side looking likely to exit this season’s Champions League, but Spurs scored late goals against both PSV and Inter Milan to advance through to the knockout stages.
Tottenham also secure another dramatic win against Manchester City in the quarter-finals, after the Premier League champions had a late winner over turned by VAR in the second leg. Redknapp believes Tottenham’s dramatic run indicates they could be destined to win the competition.
“You just get the feeling that Tottenham have got their name on the trophy. They’ve gone through when they looked like going out in the knockout stages, last-minute goals in other games got them through,” Redknapp told the Daily Mail.
“It’s been drama after drama after drama – the Manchester City game away with VAR. I’ve just got the feeling that Tottenham have got their name on the trophy this year – I really do.
“I’m a big fan of both clubs, I’m a big Liverpool fan, but I’ve just got a feeling that Tottenham, it could well be their year.”
OPINION
Tottenham supporters will hope that Redknapp’s belief about them being destined to lift the Champions League trophy against Liverpool are prove accurate. The former Tottenham manager could well be right, after Pochettino’s sides remarkable run to the final in Madrid, which saw them produce plenty of seemingly unlikely comebacks along the way. The most surprising of which came in the second leg of their semi-final against Ajax, with the Dutch club looking in complete control heading into the second half with a 2-0 lead on the night and a three goal cushion on aggregate. However, a hat-trick from Lucas Moura, deputising for the injured Harry Kane, fired Pochettino’s side to the final in Madrid. Liverpool will be considered slight favourites heading into the game having finished well above Tottenham in the Premier League and beaten them twice already this campaign. Although, as Redknapp suggests the odds have been stacked against Spurs throughout their run to the final, and they will be hoping to defy expectation one more time to secure a maiden Champions League triumph.