Even now, with the benefit of distance, it is a remarkable detail of last season’s Champions League final. Lucas Moura, the hat-trick hero of Tottenham’s semi-final second-leg epic at Ajax, the man who wept tears of joy as he watched the replay of his 96th-minute winner, could make only the bench for the final against Liverpool.

Football can be the cruellest of pursuits but how about this for a twist of the knife? The first that Lucas knew of his demotion – at the expense of the fit-again Harry Kane – was when Mauricio Pochettino announced the lineup at the team hotel. There had been no quiet word in advance from the manager, no sympathetic heads-up.

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“He didn’t speak with me, he didn’t explain anything but it’s normal,” Lucas says. “He chose and I need to respect. I needed to be ready to come on and play. To be honest, in the hotel when he gave the starting XI, I was a little bit sad. Of course, I would like to play but the most important thing was to win the game. The coach needs to choose 11 players, he can only choose 11 players and we need to respect. I don’t have a problem with this.

“Of course, I was sad inside. I want to play. But I know how to understand, I know how to respect and I know how difficult it is for him to choose 11 players. So that’s football. We need to be professional and keep working.”

Lucas did come on in the 66th minute as Spurs trailed 1-0 but there was to be no repeat of the fabled Amsterdam comeback. Liverpool closed out a cold-blooded 2-0 victory in Madrid and Lucas would be overwhelmed by tears of a different kind at the full-time whistle. “Only football can give such different feelings in a short space of time,” he says. “The semi-final was the best day of my life, in my career, and after the final it was sad because after everything we did we wanted to win. When I saw Liverpool celebrating, it was difficult. Do I keep that pain inside me? Yes, of course. When I cried, it was so difficult because I really believed that we would win.

“But I am also very proud of the season that we did. It’s not easy to arrive in the Champions League final and you need to be happy for this. And we need to keep it as motivation. We showed everyone we are capable to win trophies, to do a good season. I hope to do the same this season but to win a trophy.”

Play Video 1:45 Emotional Lucas Moura reacts to replay of his match-winning goal against Ajax – video

Lucas has never made any secret of his ambition to win the Premier League and/or Champions League at Spurs and there is a boldness about him as he considers the new season.

Lucas headed the equaliser at Manchester City, 19 seconds after coming on as a substitute, to demonstrate further his knack of scoring in big away games. He was on target in the league last season at Manchester United and Liverpool while everyone remembers his vital Champions League equaliser at Barcelona – not to mention what happened against Ajax.

Can Spurs really compete with City and Liverpool for the domestic title? “It will be so difficult, they are favourites but I think in football everything is possible – there is no invincible team,” Lucas says. “Everything can happen and we need to believe that.

“We went to City and got a good result. We cannot lose stupid points at home as we did last season. My objective and our objective is to win a trophy. We have a very good squad, an amazing structure, a lot of fans and we can dream of a trophy.”

Lucas smiles when he describes how the club’s summer signings have assaulted the ear-drums with their initiation songs.

“We’ve enjoyed it a lot when new players come and we go to dinner in the hotel,” he says, miming how what is surely a tough crowd clink their glasses with their cutlery to call for the performance. “Tanguy [Ndombele] was very bad – very, very bad – and [Giovani] Lo Celso, as well. We will see about Ryan [Sessegnon]. He is injured. When he comes back, he will sing. It is very funny.”

The point is that for the first time since Spurs took Lucas from Paris Saint-Germain in January 2018, they have new arrivals of which to boast. They have lifted the mood, bringing fresh impetus and competition.

“When a new player comes, it is exciting for us and for the fans and we have got some very good players,” Lucas says. “We are stronger this season. The most important thing is that we had two transfer windows with no signings and we still did well; we played in the Champions League, finished top four. We got to build the new stadium. Perfect.

“It is not normal that a big club like Tottenham goes two windows with no new signings but we are proud because we were very, very good. When some players leave and we don’t buy anyone, it is very hard. We need to be proud of this.”

Lucas has been in London for a little over 18 months and his English is already excellent. It was the same story at PSG with his French. The Brazilian picked it up quickly and impressively. He sits down for this interview with an interpreter but it is akin to a comfort blanket because there is little call for any outside input. “I think that Lucas must have been an interpreter himself in a different life,” the aide says. Lucas understands what is meant by a supersub. “Yeah, I saw this on Twitter,” he says, with a nod to the aftermath of the City game.

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If Lucas was squeezed out of the lineup for the Champions League final, then the sense persists that he might be Pochettino’s 12th man when everybody is available. It is not a tag he cares to embrace, even if he treads a careful line between his own wishes and respect for Pochettino’s selections.

“When I am on the bench, I always think of coming on and doing my best but I want to play, I want to be in the starting XI,” Lucas says. “I do know that the season is long, that there are a lot of games and I will have my opportunity.”

Lucas will always have Amsterdam but he says that his most emotional moment followed his other hat-trick last season – against Huddersfield at home in April – after which his baby son, Miguel, came on to the turf at the new stadium. The supporters roared every time he kicked the ball.

“In Brazil we say that there is no price for this, you cannot pay for these moments,” Lucas says. “It was a really good gift from God to me. Miguel is now one year and nine months old and next month, my second one will be born. Another boy, Pedro. Two boys and that’s it. Finished! Too much work.”