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Gary Breen: "I genuinely can't see anything other than Tottenham getting to the final"

Former Republic of Ireland international Gary Breen has backed Tottenham to make it to the Champi...



Gary Breen:
Soccer

Gary Breen: "I genuinely can't see anything other than Tottenham getting to the final"

Former Republic of Ireland international Gary Breen has backed Tottenham to make it to the Champions League final over two legs against Ajax.

The unlikely semi-final pairing will see the winners progress to the showpiece event of European football to take on the winner of Barcelona vs Liverpool.

Tottenham's form has stuttered of late with Mauricio Pochettino's side losing two of their last three league matches while Ajax were afforded the weekend off thanks to the Dutch Football Association cancelling the entire round of league fixtures.

However, Breen still believes the Londoners will emerge victorious, telling Ger: "I genuinely can't see anything other than Tottenham getting to the final. And, I'll try and give a bit of context here - Ajax have gone to Juventus and won, gone to Madrid and won and suddenly people are thinking 'Wow, this is an incredibly young, vibrant team' and it is.

"But, I've seen this Ajax team evolve over the last three seasons and I've seen so much of the Eredivisie and they definitely have talented players, of course they do. The big ones being Frenkie de Jong, who's going to Barcelona, and De Ligt at centre-half but there's others. There's David Neres at right wing, Donnie van de Beek who's at centre midfield and scores goals and is a real threat. He took over the mantle of Davy Klaassen when he went to Everton.

"But, having said all that, I just don't think that this Ajax team will be able to cope with the intensity that Spurs will bring - in terms of Premier League football and athleticism, that you don't see, as good as Serie A teams and Juventus are - you don't see that type of athleticism and you certainly don't see it with an ageing Real Madrid team.

"We saw Real Madrid lose at the weekend to a team at the bottom of the league. So, I just want to give a little bit of context.

"The only issue I have is that Tottenham looked jaded against West Ham on Saturday.

"I was at the game - they were knocking at the door but they lacked a little bit of that final end product which is surprising. It was something we'd seen against Brighton in midweek. Eriksen getting that brilliant goal and it's something we've seen throughout the season with teams sitting deep - the likes of Burnley - it took ages to beat them. Wolves beat them on the counter-attack so a team that sit deep against Tottenham cause them problems.

"The difference is: Ajax will be expansive. They'll look to try and dominate the ball. They'll spread it out and try and play through the thirds and I think that's where Tottenham will get them," he added.

Tottenham host Ajax in the first leg at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium this Tuesday with the return leg at the Johan Cruiff Arena on the 8th May.

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Ajax Champions League European Football Gary Breen Spurs Tottenham