An unthinkable moment has rocked football as Tottenham pulled off a miracle in the Champions League semi-final. An unthinkable moment has rocked football as Tottenham pulled off a miracle in the Champions League semi-final.... After the crazy scenes that unfolded at Anfield yesterday when Liverpool sensationally bounced back from a 3-0 first leg deficit to knock Barcelona out of the Champions League, few would have been expecting the similar drama in today’s other semi-final. But football fans were treated to even more stunning scenes as Tottenham pulled off a miracle of its own to progress to the Champions League final. Ajax won the two teams’ first leg 1-0 and went up 2-0 in this morning’s second leg at home, giving it a 3-0 aggregate lead at halftime. But then the tide changed. Two goals inside five minutes to Lucas Moura just before the hour mark made it 2-2 and reduced Ajax’s aggregate lead to 3-2. One more goal to Tottenham and the English team would progress to an all-English final against Liverpool on June 1. As the clock wound down, Spurs threw everything at Ajax, launching desperate attacking raids. Jan Vertonghen hit the crossbar with a header and had his second effort cleared off the line with just a couple of minutes of regular time remaining. It was looking like there’d be no repeat of Liverpool’s heroics but the most incredible, last-ditch play in the sixth minute of injury time saw Moura score to make it 3-2 and 3-3 on aggregate, paving the way for Spurs to advance to the decider having scored more away goals. Dele Alli laid the ball off to the Brazilian as he streaked into the area and his low shot crept inside the right post to complete the astonishing victory. RELATED: Liverpool’s pure cheek sparks footballing meltdown Pure elation for Tottenham. Complete devastation for Ajax. Lucas Moura seals his hat-trick and an away-goals win in the 95th minute.#AJATOT #UCL #OptusSport pic.twitter.com/JEZeq1GfNK — Optus Sport (@OptusSport) May 8, 2019 Football commentators, legends and fans couldn’t believe the incredible action. Two of the most glorious nights in English football history. Never seen anything quite like it. Tottenham and Liverpool... fair play to the pair of you! 👏👏 — Reece Dinsdale (@reece_dinsdale) May 8, 2019 Wow wow wow @SpursOfficial!!! ! I have never seen anything like it. — Nick Eardley (@nickeardleybbc) May 8, 2019 Is this a dream? The past two days? WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON #championsleague — Melanie McLaughlin (@Mel_Mclaughlin) May 8, 2019 Oh my goodness TOTTENHAM!!! Unbelievable scenes!! 👀👏🏻 #AJXTOT — Rob Keogh (@RobKeogh91) May 8, 2019 Oh My God. — Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) May 8, 2019 There. Is Nothing. Like. Football. — Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) May 8, 2019 Wowwwww I can’t believe it, absolutely lost it in the studio, incredible moment for @SpursOfficial lost for words, champions league final here we come 🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻 #SpursAjax — Jamie Ohara (@Mrjamieohara1) May 8, 2019 A hugely emotional Tottenham coach Mauricio Pochettino was in tears after the game. “It’s still difficult to talk, the emotion is amazing. Thank you football, thank you these guys, these players are my heroes,” he told BT Sport. “I told you in the last year, I told everyone that we have a group of players who are heroes. They showed today. The second half was amazing. “Thank you. Thank you football. Thank you to our fans. Thank you to the people who believed and helped us achieve this amazing moment. It’s difficult to describe.” CRUSHING IMAGES AFTER HEARTBREAK Moura’s hat-trick left the Dutch side heartbroken. The Ajax players slumped to the turf, their fans stunned, as they struggled to digest their dream European run was over. HOW IT HAPPENED The thrilling young Dutch team appeared to have killed the tie after captain Matthijs de Ligt and Hakim Ziyech both scored in the first half. That left Tottenham needing a comeback to match that of Liverpool against Barcelona, but in an even shorter amount of time. A quickfire brace by Moura early in the second half gave Spurs something to cling to, before he struck the decisive blow, denying Ajax a first Champions League final since 1996. Erik ten Hag’s team, who had already eliminated the holders Real Madrid and Cristiano Ronaldo’s Juventus this season, was applauded by its devastated fans at full-time and must now somehow lift itself back up to try and win the Dutch title. Ajax had been dealt a blow just minutes before kick-off when Brazilian winger David Neres pulled out of the starting line-up after the warm-up, his place taken by the young Dane Kasper Dolberg. That last-minute switch did not perturb the Dutch club, though. Dusan Tadic moved to the left wing and Ajax set about tearing into its opponents right from the kick-off, just as it had done in the first leg. It won a corner after Tottenham goalkeeper Hugo Lloris had stretched to his left to beat away a Tadic shot, and from the delivery that followed from Lasse Schoene, De Ligt rose to head home a fifth-minute opener. Spurs — without talisman striker Harry Kane but with Son Heung-min back after missing the first leg due to suspension — did threaten an immediate reply as a Son cross hit the near post, but Ajax escaped and came again, a Tadic shot that fizzed just past the far post acting as a prelude for what was to follow in the 35th minute. This time Tadic cut the ball back for Ziyech, whose first-time shot on his left foot flew into the far corner from a difficult angle. It was a wonderful goal, and it had surely killed the tie. Spurs fans were understandably subdued, and they would not have harboured too much hope in Fernando Llorente as the big striker replaced Victor Wanyama for the second half. Yet the way Pochettino’s side came back out after halftime echoed what Liverpool had done at Anfield 24 hours earlier. Spurs scored their first in the 55th minute, Moura combining with Alli and slotting low past Onana. Four minutes after that Onana made an improbable save from Llorente’s effort inside the six-yard box, but the ball came back to Moura and the Brazilian turned and managed to find the back of the net. He wheeled away in celebration, all too aware that Tottenham was now just one goal away from completing the turnaround. With such tension, Ajax no longer appeared so liberated, but Ziyech twice nearly scored again, grazing the post with a first-time shot and then hitting the same upright in the 79th minute. Jan Vertonghen hit the bar at the other end, but just when it looked like Ajax would hang on, Moura delivered the killer blow.<doc-sep>Jose Mourinho says Ajax’s failure to compromise their fabled philosophy ended up costing them dearly as they were on the wrong end of a shock Champions League semi-final comeback against Tottenham. The Dutch side have thrilled Europe this season with some majestic performances in reaching the Champions League final four, playing a fearless, free-flowing brand of football that recalled the glory days of Johan Cruyff in the '70s and the famous team of the mid-90s that also claimed Europe’s biggest club prize. On Wednesday night, manager Erik ten Hag and his team appeared on course for a first Champions League final in 23 years as they cruised into a 3-0 aggregate lead against Tottenham with just one half of football left in the tie. But it all came spectacularly undone as Spurs mounted an incredible second-half comeback, capped off when Lucas Moura completed his hat-trick in the sixth minute of injury time to send his team into the final on away goals. Also on rt.com Spurs beat Ajax in incredible Champions League fight-back to book final spot Speaking to RT, Portuguese managerial great Mourinho had previously said that to overcome Ajax, teams needed to “give them what they don’t want” – referencing how he had masterminded their defeat as Manchester United boss in the Europa League final two seasons ago. And Mourinho saw parallels with that on Wednesday night, when Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino introduced big Spanish forward Fernando Llorente at half time for a more direct approach in a desperate bid to rescue the game. “I remember clearly that I told you, to Ajax, you must give them what they don’t want,” Mourinho told RT on his show ‘On the Touchline with Jose Mourinho’. “Tottenham did it in the second half. Long ball to Llorente, Llorente is flicking, holding with his chest, waiting for support. “The last goal is long ball, Llorente, second ball, Dele Alli assist, Lucas goal. “Ajax wants to press high, they cannot because the ball is not there.” Mourinho joked that Spurs midfielders Christian Eriksen and Moussa Sissoko must have “needed neck massages after the game” as they spent so much time watching the ball sail over their heads. “The ball was going from [Toby] Alderweireld, [Jan] Vertonghen, to Llorente and then Dele Alli, Lucas, all the ones surrounding the second ball, Ajax couldn’t cope.” Mourinho said that despite the more route-one approach being counter to Spurs’ principles under Pochettino, it was essential for them to get back into the game. In contrast, he made a scathing assessment of Ajax’s failure to compromise their possession-focused passing game, despite the tie slipping away from them. “I’m surprised that Ajax, they did nothing to try to cope with something that is difficult. They let the game go and go and always with the same profile of game. “You can say football is cruel, it is, but one thing is when you collapse without trying not to collapse. They [Ajax] kept playing the same way. “OK, [Hakim] Ziyech hit the post, if he scores, game over, we can go to all these details. “But by the strategic point of view, Tottenham forgot their basic philosophy and they went with the strategy to try to make the miracle happen. “And Ajax, from minute one until minute 95, they played only with their philosophy – and in football, it’s not possible.” Also on rt.com 'Heroes': Spurs boss Pochettino breaks down in tears after Champions League triumph (VIDEO) For the Dutch side and manager Erik ten Hag it was an agonizing end to a fairytale campaign that few would have predicted. A team bristling with young talent, led by 19-year-old skipper Matthijs de Ligt and with Barcelona bound wonderkid Frenkie de Jong in midfield, surpassed all expectations by reaching the semi-finals and dumping out Real Madrid and Juventus along the way. Mourinho paid credit to the team, and also said manager ten Hag would learn from the bitter experience of Wednesday night. “Ajax, I want to give them one more time, huge credit for football they play, the quality they brought, the emotion they brought,” Mourinho said. “Phenomenal team with small investment, a great academy, incredible philosophy. But come on, if you want to win things, you also need the strategic side of the game. “Ajax in the last two years, they lost the final against Manchester United in the Europa League, and losses a semi-final where they were winning 3-0, both for the same reason: a strategic point of view… “They have to feel very proud of what they did, but it’s something they have to rethink if one day they want to win it really. “I think ten Hag, untouchable the work he did… but I’m pretty sure now he understands that football is not just about philosophy, it’s about strategy,” he concluded, ever the pragmatist. You can get all of Mourinho's thoughts on this week's incredible Champions League drama in the full episode of 'On the Touchline with Jose Mourinho' here:<doc-sep>'It's a dream getting crushed' - De Ligt believes Ajax did not deserve Champions League heartbreak The defender says he felt his side deserved to move on to the final in Madrid following their defeat to Tottenham in Amsterdam Matthijs de Ligt says Ajax's elimination at the hands of Tottenham felt cruel, stating that he feels his side saw their dreams crushed on Wednesday evening. After winning the first leg 1-0 in London, Ajax returned home on Wednesday with one eye fixed on Liverpool and the Champions League final. That belief was only strengthened by a pair of first half goals, with De Ligt scoring the opener on a thumping header that looked very similar to his finish against Juventus in the quarter-finals. Hakim Ziyech then provided Ajax's second, giving the Dutch side a 3-0 aggregate lead with just 45 minutes of football remaining. It all fell apart from there, however, as Lucas Moura scored a pair of goals in quick succession to bring Spurs within touching distance of winning the tie on away goals. And they did just that, with Moura scoring deep into stoppage time to seal Tottenham's spot in Madrid and Ajax's accompanying elimination. "When you see the whole game, we didn't deserve to be knocked out," De Ligt told Veronica . "We barely gave anything away in first half, but we're out anyway. Incredible. "It's a dream getting crushed. I would have loved to play the final, but it's not happening. "I'm getting goosebumps from the way our fans cheered for us [after the final whistle]. It's hard to say right now, but we have to move on. "We still have to play two matches to win the title. That's most important now." De Ligt added that Ajax's inability to pressure Tottenham proved their undoing, as the second half played out much differently than the first 45 which saw the home side cruise without many issues. "In the second half we were no longer capable of putting on pressure, so Alderweireld could step forward and Trippier had too much time to bring the ball in," the defender said. Article continues below "We had no answer to that. We survived for a very long time, but we gave away the goals very clumsily. That's what made the difference. "The fans gave me chills, but unfortunately it's not our night." Ajax will now turn focus towards the Eredivisie title as they sit level on points with PSV with two games remaining.<doc-sep>
Tottenham Hotspur has turned its semi-final tie on its head by beating Ajax on away goals in the dying seconds of injury time to reach the Champions League final, where it will face Liverpool in an all-Premier League affair. Key points: Ajax had won the first leg 1-0 on Tottenham's turf, and led 2-0 in the first half on home soil Ajax had won the first leg 1-0 on Tottenham's turf, and led 2-0 in the first half on home soil But two goals in two second-half minutes from Lucas Moura turned the tie on its head But two goals in two second-half minutes from Lucas Moura turned the tie on its head Lucas completed his hat-trick and Spurs' miracle passage to the Champions League final in the dying seconds of the match Lucas Moura scored an incredible hat-trick as Spurs came from 2-0 down on the night (and 3-0 on aggregate) to level the tie at 3-3 on aggregate, sending the North London club to the final on away goals. Following Liverpool's absurd feats against Barcelona in the other semi-final, Spurs' heroics capped a truly astonishing turnaround after Tottenham looked dead in the water with Ajax two goals up and looking comfortable in the first half. Star defender Matthijs de Ligt powered home a header from a corner in the fifth minute, before Hakim Ziyech doubled Ajax's lead with a slammed left-footed finish before the interval. But one goal was all Spurs needed to get back into the contest, and so it proved when a flowing move from the back saw Dele Alli cut in on the Ajax defence, before Lucas ran onto the ball to apply the finish for 2-1 (3-1 on aggregate). The scores on the night were levelled up just a minute later when calamitous Ajax defending wasted a sharp point-blank save from Andre Onana as the home team failed to clear its lines, allowing Lucas to side-foot home and bring the deficit down to 3-2. Lucas Moura levelled the tie for Spurs before completing his hat-trick with practically the last kick of the game. ( AP: Martin Meissner Ajax's pretty passing patterns and composure were completely shredded now, as Tottenham forwards began running at defenders at will. With five minutes remaining, Spurs centreback Jan Vertonghen planted a header on the crossbar, before his second effort was desperately hacked off the line. Loading Ajax finally looked to have calmed down as regulation minutes bled into injury time, as they looked to hold up the ball in the corners, though unsuccessfully. With what felt like the last kick of the game, a hopeful long ball forward saw a one-two outside the box find Lucas, who poked the ball home ahead of his marker and beyond the outstretched Onana. It levelled the aggregate at 3-3, and with all of Spurs' goals being away goals, sent them through to the decider against Liverpool. Ajax still had one more chance to hunt out a desperate late winner with even more time added on, but it was not to be as the final whistle prompted emotional scenes in the Spurs camp, with Tottenham coach Mauricio Pochettino in tears as he embraced players and coaching staff. Ajax captain Matthijs de Ligt described the match as "a dream that went bad". ( AP: Peter Dejong Spurs fullback Danny Rose said Spurs had taken inspiration from Liverpool, after the Reds turned around a 3-0 deficit to progress 4-3 against Barcelona the night before. "We saw Liverpool last night. It goes to show it's not over until it's over," he said. "Disappointed with the first leg, how we started and we started like that tonight. But after the break we came out. "The gaffer mentioned Liverpool's display at the hotel before the match — the gaffer doesn't mind us losing but we have to lose the right way." For Ajax captain de Ligt, the result was a horror show. "It's a nightmare, like a dream that went bad," 19-year-old de Ligt told Dutch television. "We played well in the first half, we had it all our way. We didn't keep up the same pressure in the second half.