Champions League: Tottenham & Liverpools Roads to the Final Recapped

After two of the greatest comebacks in the history of football, Tottenham and Liverpool will face off in the Champions League final at Wanda Metropolitano in Madrid on Saturday 1 June.

Two English sides meet in the final for the first time since 2008, bringing an end to the Spanish superiority which has reigned over European football for most of the past decade.

Both teams have provided us with unforgettable memories in their quest for the title, each having faced elimination during several points in their campaigns.

Let's recap how they both made it to the final.

Tottenham

After finishing third in the Premier League last season, Tottenham were placed in Group B and didn't get off to the best of starts. They only managed to pick up one point from their opening three matches, against Inter, Barcelona and PSV respectively.

This left them facing an uphill battle, needing close to maximum points in the reverse fixtures and a helping hand from lady luck in order to progress to the knockout stages.

First up was the visit of PSV. It couldn't have started any worse for Spurs, Luuk de Jong heading in from a corner inside two minutes giving the away side a crucial lead. However, up step Harry Kane, the skipper on the night coming up with two late goals to keep his side alive and send PSV out.

The next hurdle was the visit of Inter to Wembley and again Spurs came up with the goods late on. Christian Eriksen came off the bench to grab the winner in the 80th minute, giving Tottenham a 1-0 victory. This meant they would qualify with a win in their next match against Barcelona or if Inter failed to better Spurs' result at Camp Nou.

You'll start to see a pattern to Tottenham's Champions League journey now, as they managed to grab a draw in Spain, with (yep, you guessed it) another late goal. Lucas Moura turned in Kane's cross in the 85th minute to equalise after Ousmane Dembele had fired Barcelona into the lead in the first half, rewarding Spurs with qualification as Inter could only draw with PSV.

After advancing from the group stage by the skin of their teeth, Spurs were drawn against high flying Bundesliga title challengers Borussia Dortmund in the first knockout round. A 4-0 win on aggregate over both legs set up a blockbuster tie with Manchester City in the quarter final.

Tottenham's first European match in their new stadium provided an eventful game which saw talisman Kane suffer a potentially season ending injury, Hugo Lloris save an early penalty from Sergio Aguero and Son Heung-min grab the winner in typically late fashion.

The second leg was one of the games of the season. To sum up: seven goals, two first half braces and a 93rd minute Sterling strike disallowed via VAR to send Tottenham through to a semi final meeting with Ajax.

After hitting a patch of poor form domestically, Tottenham suffered a 1-0 defeat at home in the first leg. The return fixture in Amsterdam started off where the previous fixture had finished: Ajax were rampant and stormed into a 2-0 lead at half-time.

Cue pandemonium - in the absence of Kane, Lucas Moura took the weight of his side on his shoulders and produced arguably the greatest hat trick Spurs fans have ever seen. Three second half goals, the last of which coming in the 95th minute, squared the tie up at 3-3 and sent Pochettino's men through to their first Champions League final on away goals, immortalising Moura in Tottenham Hotspur history.

Next up is Liverpool - another last gasp winner on the cards?

Liverpool

Liverpool finished fourth in the Premier League last season and were drawn in Group C alongside PSG, Napoli and Red Star Belgrade. Much like Tottenham, they struggled in the group stage, collecting six points from their opening five games.

They had to win their final game against Napoli and keep a clean sheet in order to progress. Mohamed Salah scored the only goal of the match, giving the Reds a 1-0 victory and in doing so clinching second place on goal difference.

In the round of 16, Jurgen Klopp's men were pitted against Bayern Munich, another European giant. The first leg at Anfield was a cagey affair, the visitors producing a solid workmanlike performance to earn a 0-0 stalemate.

The second leg was more entertaining, Klopp's men coming away victorious with a 3-1 win. Sadio Mane opened the scoring after punishing a Manuel Neuer error, before a Joel Matip own goal sent the sides in at half-time at 1-1. Virgil van Dijk restored his team's lead with a header before Mane grabbed his second of the night late on to cement the result.

Liverpool were drawn against Porto for their quarter final clash and comfortably dispatched the Portuguese side, winning 2-0 at home and 4-1 away. A convincing aggregate scoreline of 6-1 put them in the hat for the semi finals, where they were drawn against Barcelona and Lionel Messi.

The first leg saw Liverpool put in a good performance, but a lack of clinical finishing came back to haunt them against one of the favourites for the trophy. A Luis Suarez opener and a brace from Messi, including a spectacular free kick, gave Barca a 3-0 victory.

Cue another memorable comeback. With a three goal deficit to overcome against one the best teams in the world and arguably the greatest player of all time, Klopp's men defied the odds to stun the Spanish champions.

Salah and Firmino were unable to play through injury. However, heroes come in a variety of forms and, in this instance, Georginio Wijnaldum and Divock Origi stepped up. A brace each gave their team a 4-0 win and booked their place in the final.

With more exhilarating football to look forward to, a final hurdle faces each side on 1 June.

Source : 90min