‘I don’t know how to recover from this’: Daley Blind expresses sadness after Ajax’s last-minute Champions League elimination at the hands of Tottenham
- Daley Blind was devastated by Ajax’s second-half collapse against Tottenham
- Spurs came from three goals down to win on the away goals rule in Amsterdam
- The result sets up an all-English final between Spurs and Liverpool in Madrid
- Blind claimed the semi-final match ‘should have lasted 10 fewer seconds’
Ajax defender Daley Blind was disconsolate after his team’s Champions League semi-final second-leg defeat by Tottenham Hotspur at the Johan Cruyff ArenA.
The Dutchman’s side began the game with a 1-0 first-leg lead and went further in front when Matthijs de Ligt headed in from a fourth-minute corner and Hakim Ziyech curled in on 35 minutes.
Tottenham’s task seemed insurmountable, but Lucas Moura scored a sensational second-half hat-trick to earn an away goals victory and set up an all-English final against Liverpool in Madrid on June 1.
Daley Blind was devastated by Ajax’s second-half collapse against Tottenham
Moura netted his third with the last kick of the game after the Ajax defenders struggled to deal with the physicality of Spurs forward Fernando Llorente.
Blind told Veronica: ‘I don’t know how to recover from this. I guess everyone has their own way, but we have to be back on track by Sunday (for their penultimate Eredivisie game against Utrecht).
‘I’m glad we will be having another match soon. It hurts. Yesterday (Liverpool’s win over Barcelona) we’ve seen that everything is possible. We told ourselves that.
‘We had a great opponent with lots of qualities. We delivered a lot of passion. After the 2-2 we restored the match.
Lucas Moura (centre) celebrates his winner as Spurs come from three goals down to win
Ajax players collapse after Spurs scored a late goal to progress to the Champions League final
‘Hakim (Ziyech) had two good opportunities. It’s such a shame he couldn’t finish it,’ the 29-year-old added.
‘This match should have lasted 10 fewer seconds. They didn’t get many chances after the 2-2, but they scored anyway and that’s devastating.
‘I’m extremely proud to be part of this team. We’ve shown fantastic stuff and I think the whole world enjoyed it, but it’s a bit too early for us to think like that.
‘Anyway, we have to go on. We have to win another trophy with this team. We’re going to make sure the season ends in a fantastic way.’
Blind claimed the semi-final match ‘should have lasted 10 fewer seconds’