Former Tottenham goalkeeper Michel Vorm has described how the club’s win over Ajax in the Champions League in 2019 was the most ‘insane’ match of his career.
Spurs famously beat Ajax in the semi-finals of the Champions League two years ago in one of the most surreal ties in the history of the competition.
Trailing 1-0 from the first leg at home, they appeared to be on their way out of the competition when goals from Matthijs de Ligt and Hakim Ziyech had put Ajax 2-0 up and three ahead on aggregate.
A superb second-half performance from Tottenham turned that round, though, with Lucas Moura scoring in the 55th, 59th and 96th minute of the game to turn the tie on its head and send Spurs to the final in Madrid.
To this day, not many are sure how they did what they did and Vorm, who wasn’t in the squad but with the team nonetheless, admits it was crazy to be a part of it.
“It often comes up in interviews,” he told Voetbalzone.
“Although the other semi-final that season was between Liverpool and Barcelona also a very special one.
“Those are competitions where you think: this is not possible, this does not exist. The match against Ajax was also such a match.
“I must honestly say that I no longer believed in it myself. In the break, I sent my wife a message that she could look at holidays. I would be free three weeks earlier if we didn’t make it to the final. ”
Victory over Ajax saw Tottenham heading to their first Champions League final, where they were meeting Liverpool, the year’s previous runners-up.
Fate ended up working against Spurs that night as an early penalty from Mohammed Salah set the tone for one of the duller Champions League finals in recent memory.
In the end, Liverpool ran out 2-0 winners courtesy of a strike from Divock Origi, securing their sixth European title and heartbreak for Spurs.
It’s a game that many Tottenham fans still feel they could have been won, but Vorm admits that going into it, they were hoping for more of the luck that had gotten them there in the first place.
“A final is a final. It was not a top match, as finals are often not top matches,” he added.
“We both had few chances, but Liverpool was on a different level that season with 97 points in the Premier League.
“We hoped that we could take the luck from the quarter-finals and the semi-finals to the final.
“Of course, we also got away well against Manchester City. In the end, that early penalty kick never made it into a thrilling final. I’m sorry to this day.”
