Vertonghen on Llorente: 'He's always been there to help us'
Thu 18 April 2019, 15:09|
Tottenham Hotspur
Jan Vertonghen heaped praise on Fernando Llorente after his goalscoring heroics sent us into Champions League dreamland.
Trailing 4-2 on the night and 4-3 on aggregate as a crazy quarter-final tie neared its conclusion at Manchester City on Wednesday, substitute Fernando popped up with a crucial goal from Kieran Trippier’s corner to level the overall score and ultimately – after two VAR decisions ruled in our favour – put us into the last four of the fabled competition for the first time ever.
As we prepare to return to the Etihad for another crucial battle, this time in the Premier League, on Saturday lunchtime (12.30pm), central defender Jan has hailed his veteran team-mate for once again taking his chance and making a difference for the team.
“Sonny (Heung-Min Son) scored two and we all know about him, but Fernando has been so important for us,” said the Belgian international.
“He’s scored some important goals this season, he was always there to help us out and again now.
“He’s been amazing value for us, everyone loves the guy and I’m very happy for him.
“It was a mad game, 2-2 after 11 minutes… I can’t explain everything that happened but it was madness!”
It could have been a very different story as City’s Raheem Sterling appeared to have completed a hat-trick right at the end of Wednesday’s second leg to put his side through to the last four as outright winners, but a VAR review spotted an off-side against Sergio Aguero in the build-up and the goal didn’t stand, taking our players, staff and fans from agony to ecstasy in the space of a few stoppage-time seconds.
“Normally you apply for off-side or for a foul, but no-one even thought about off-side, everyone was on the floor,” admitted Jan, who can now look forward to facing former Club Ajax in the semi-finals.
“I think there were three minutes left to play so I tried to get everyone up but then, out of nothing, VAR was there. It hasn’t sunk in yet that we’re in the semis but let’s appreciate this win first and then we’ll see what’s coming. Playing Ajax is going to be something very special and I’m looking forward to it.”
