Spurs v Ajax - Mauricio's preview

Mauricio Pochettino believes team spirit and togetherness can keep us dreaming in the Champions League.

That spirit has certainly been a key ingredient in an incredible journey that has taken us to a semi-final over two legs against Ajax in Europe's elite competition.

The first leg is at home tonight (8pm) with the return in Amsterdam on Wednesday week (8 May, 8pm).

We looked down and out when a late equaliser in Matchday Three (MD3) of the group stage at PSV left us with one point after three games. Qualification for the knockout stage was soon dubbed 'mission impossible' but late goals against PSV (a 2-1 win in MD4), Inter (a 1-0 win in MD5) and Barcelona (a 1-1 draw in MD6) clinched progress.

Borussia Dortmund were dispatched 4-0 on aggregate in the last 16 before an unforgettable quarter-final against Manchester City where every sinew of that spirit was required to make it through on away goals after it finished 4-4 on aggregate.

Now we face an Ajax team who have taken the competition by storm - unbeaten in a qualifying group that included Bayern Munich before toppling holders Real Madrid and Serie A giants Juventus.

Mauricio said: "We have a great opportunity to be here playing in the semi-final. It is our first semi-final in the Champions League and that’s why must show respect for the competition and the opponents because it's going to be so tough. Ajax fully deserve to be where they are and it's going to be very competitive game.

"The most important thing is what we create - that spirit that makes you believe all is possible and you can achieve all you want.

"We will miss players who are not available but always the most important is that genuine feeling we can achieve all as a collective. That is our strength, that we think like a team, and it's difficult to create that only through talking. We are working a lot to deliver that.

"It will be a magic night because to play a semi-final in our new stadium is something nobody could believe or think a few months ago, but we are here."

Asked for his thoughts on Ajax, Mauricio added: "To reach the semi-final means they have a lot of quality and of course unbelievable players. Ajax are doing fantastically. They were unbeaten in the group stage against tough teams like Bayern Munich and then beating Real Madrid and Juventus. Only the results describe how strong the team is.

"We can talk about quality but I think it’s difficult to find some weakness. It’s a team which deserves a lot of credit, the manager and the players are doing a fantastic job. A little bit like us, no-one believed Ajax could arrive in the semi-final, but we are there because we deserve to be."