"Liverpool against Spurs is a big enough fixture in the Premier League. It takes on added significance now that it is the Champions League final. English football is back."
Monday 20 April 2020 08:59, UK
There was another sensational Champions League comeback from Tottenham on Wednesday and one man snatched all the headlines - Lucas Moura.
"Moura the same" and "one Moura miracle" were just a few of the offerings from the British newspapers, while others opted for comparisons to Liverpool's own incredible heroics the previous evening.
The Guardian went with a headline of "anything you can do" while The Times stated: "It happened again." Matt Dickinson believes that both ties puts the notion of a no-hope fixture to rest.
The Times
He wrote: "Spurs had Fernando Llorete coming off the bench to chase - and never too rapidly either - after what looked for all the world like a lost cause. After the last 48 hours, never again will we use that phrase in football. Never again will we see a 3-0 deficit and think that it is an insurmountable challenge. We can forget the term 'Spursy' too."
The Express' Matt Dunn described Tottenham as "doing a Liverpool" while The Sun's Paul Jiggins said: "Spurs made the greatest Champions League comeback since Tuesday to set up a final against Liverpool"
The Sun
Sam Cunningham from The I newspaper also commented on both sides overturning a 3-0 deficit, writing: "Three-nil is basically the new 2-0. There will be half-time pundits everywhere in season to come declaring three goals a dangerous lead in Champions League second legs."
The Mail's Martin Samuel turned his hand to a Game of Thrones comparison, although not even the savviest of writers could have predicted the outcomes this week.
"If you didn't know any better, you would say these narratives were fixed, or scripted," he wrote. "That these CL semi-finals had a team of writers, like Game of Thrones, or were choreographed, slam by slam, like WWE.
"But no pen produced this. The return from the dead, the swing of the boot where all at last seemed lost… Jon Snow's resurrection had nothing on this. It was truly a tale of ice and fire."
Daily Mail
The Champions League final on June 1 will now be the first all-English Champions League final in 11 years and Sunday Supplement presenter, Neil Ashton, summed it up perfectly in The Sun.
He said: "Liverpool against Spurs is a big enough fixture in the Premier League. It takes on added significance now that it is the Champions League final. English football is back."
The Netherlands media still had plenty of encouragement for a talented and courageous Ajax side, who had already knocked out Real Madrid and Juventus on their way to the semi-finals.
De Telegraaf wrote: "What an anti-climax for Ajax that, after a great European campaign, eventually ends up suffering a crazy 3-2 defeat.
"The final was so close. And that in a football world where the average Ajax has to stand between the big capitals, especially from the four major European football countries: England, Spain, Germany and Italy and Paris Saint-Germain from France.
"The huge thump must be put aside quickly to become the Dutch champion again for the first time in four years. However strange it may sound, the European series must be translated into something positive despite the elimination. Those who reach the semi-final must be able to win the last two games of the season and thus win the second prize."
The Champions League final, the 27th in its current format and 64th of Europe's elite-club competition, will take place on June 1, 2019. Kick-off is at 8pm (BST), 9pm (CEST).
