How Tottenham's Champions League group looked after three matches... as Spurs book final spot

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Tom Dutton9 May 2019

Tottenham staged a miraculous fightback to reach the Champions League Final with a stunning 3-2 win against Ajax on Wednesday night.

Trailing 1-0 from the first leg in north London, Spurs arrived in Amsterdam knowing they needed a win to progress to the Madrid final.

And Mauricio Pochettino's men made the worst possible start, falling 2-0 behind inside 40 minutes as Tottenham's hopes were left hanging by a thread.

However, a stunning fightback, spearheaded by hat-trick hero Lucas, was completed deep into added time when the Brazilian slotted home a loose ball to spark amazing scenes in the Dutch capital.

It was an incredible ending to a thrilling contest, and captured in a nutshell the dramatic nature of Tottenham's entire Champions League campaign.

With just one point from their opening three group games, Mauricio Pochettino declared their Champions League hopes "nearly over" back in October.

Late wins against PSV Eindhoven and Inter followed to ensure there was life in Tottenham's Euro bid ahead of their last group match at the Camp Nou.

And with Inter Milan only able to draw 1-1 at home to PSV Eindhoven, Lucas's 85th-minute equaliser in Barcelona sent Spurs into the last 16. Pochettino hailed his players for achieving "mission impossible" by reaching the knockout stages.

"I am so happy for the fans - this is a massive, massive achievement for the club," he said.

It was just the eighth time a team had qualified for the last 16 of the Champions League after gathering just one point from their first three group games.

A comprehensive victory over Borussia Dortmund followed, before the latest minor miracle in Manchester on Wednesday saw Spurs safely into the last four.

Here's a reminder of how Tottenham's Champions League group looked after just three matches...

Champions League | Group B

Pos Team P W D L GD Pts
1 Barcelona 3 3 0 0 8 9
2 Inter Milan 3 2 0 1 0 6
3 Tottenham 3 0 1 2 -3 1
4 PSV 3 0 1 2 -5 1

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