Tottenham travel to Bournemouth live on Sky Sports Premier League with coverage from 12pm on Saturday; Kick-off at 12:30pm
Thursday 2 May 2019 17:58, UK
Mauricio Pochettino has challenged Tottenham to show the same level of desire as Lionel Messi and labelled their defeat to Ajax as "so painful".
Spurs were beaten at home in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final by the Dutch side thanks to Donny van de Beek's first-half strike.
Fellow Premier League side Liverpool went down 3-0 in Barcelona on Wednesday thanks to Messi's double and Pochettino wants his players to use the Argentine as an inspiration.
Asked if he believes Tottenham could face Messi's Barcelona in the Champions League final, Pochettino said: "If we play like him [Messi] for sure we are going to have a chance.
"If we play like him without the ball, with the desire he showed yesterday, for sure we are going to have the chance to qualify for the final. If not, no chance.
"If we play like we played the first 20 minutes [against Ajax], it's difficult to have a chance. Ajax weren't better than us. It's only in the moments they showed more desire than us that they were better. That is the key for football.
"To play Saturday against Bournemouth, we need to show the same desire. If not, it's difficult to win. Wednesday [against Ajax] is going to be the same.
"It's so painful when in the same semi-final you watch Messi play with the desire and motivation, and say 'why did we not feel the same?'"
Before the second leg against Ajax, Tottenham face a trip to Bournemouth on Saturday - live on Sky Sports Premier League - with a spot in the top four still not secure.
A win at the Vitality Stadium will confirm Spurs' place in the Champions League next season, but Pochettino may be without Jan Vertonghen after he suffered a head injury on Tuesday.
He was replaced after 39 minutes, but did try to play on before appearing unsteady and having to come off.
Pochettino said Vertonghen saw a specialist on Thursday and that they are awaiting the report, and could not confirm the defender's availability for the Bournemouth match.
He added: "We don't know. That is going to be a decision for the medical staff. We can't guess now. We hope it is not a big issue and he can be available as soon as possible.
"We followed the protocol. I think you can see on TV what happened. Our medical staff behaved very well; they were excellent. I am professional about football, not about medicine, so of course I respect the medical staff's decision.
"The concussion [test] was negative, that is why the player continued to play. After that it was a completely different thing, he started to feel not good. In that moment we changed and he was off the pitch."
