Tottenham progressed through to their first-ever Champions League final after a stunning 3-2 win in Amsterdam last night. Lucas Moura, who was drafted in in the place of an injured Harry Kane, bagged a hat-trick as Spurs defied the odds to book their place in the final. Spurs went into the game with it all to do after a disaster of a first leg, in which Donny van de Beek scored the only goal of the game to take a 1-0 lead back to Holland. In the return leg, however, things were much different, as Ajax sprinted ahead to a 2-0 lead on the night, giving Tottenham Hotspur a near-impossible ask.

But according to Jose Mourinho, Ajax failed to adapt their style in the second half once Tottenham scored twice, and that was their downfall. “For me, the philosophy is what makes a team grow up in a direction,” he said on beIN Sports. “Every team grows up, you need that base, you need that philosophy, you need that style of play adapted to the quality of the players. “Ajax deserve all the credit for that and all the admiration of people like us who love football, and we give them the credit they deserve.

Jose Mourinho criticised Ajax for their style of play against Tottenham

Matthijs de Ligt scored the opener at the Johan Cruyff ArenA

“But football is a sporting battle and in battles you need strategy. “And to win matches, especially special matches, for special matches you need sometimes not to be tied to your philosophy.” Ajax beat Real Madrid and Juventus to make it through to the last four, and took the same underdog mentality into last night’s tie at the Johan Cruyff ArenA. But Mourinho pointed out centre-backs Daley Blind and Matthijs de Ligt for criticism after the pair were caught out of position while Spurs were attacking.

Lucas Moura scored a last-gasp winner for Tottenham

“Sometimes you even need to go against your philosophy to win a football match. And I think if Ajax, in the second half, hide their weaknesses better, but everybody knows their weaknesses, they have to cope with that,” he continued. “We saw many examples in their attacking situations, we had other situations where Blind and De Ligt were outside. “The basic thing you do when you have an advantage is keep your balance all the time – never unbalanced. The balance starts exactly with the defensive line in position then after that a certain number of players always behind the ball line.

Ajax players looked heartbroken after the final whistle