Tottenham have been a hard nut to crack throughout this season’s European competition. After finishing runners-up in Group B that also had fellow semi-finalists Barcelona, along with Inter Milan and PSV Eindhoven, Mauricio Pochettino’s men overcame German giants Borussia Dortmund 4-0 on aggregate in the Round of 16.

The quarter-final contest with Manchester City was one of the most epic battles this season, as Spurs edged out their Premier League rivals on the away goals rule, despite losing the second leg 4-3. Since that match, the Lilywhites have lost two of their three league games, with their most recent fixture ending in a 1-0 loss to West Ham United at home.

Ajax, on the other hand, have been the giant-killing team of the Champions League this season. Having made it through the qualifying stages, Erik ten Hag’s men finished behind Bayern Munich in the group stage. The Eredivisie outfit then ousted holders Real Madrid in the Round of 16 (5-3 on aggregate), with a scintillating display at the Santiago Bernabeu in the second leg.

Ajax followed it up with another big scalp as they sent Juventus, who were one of the tournament favourites, packing out of the tournament (3-2 aggregate) to make it to the semi-finals for the first time since 1997. Having beaten Vitesse Arnhem 4-2 a week ago, Ajax will come into Tuesday’s game well-rested as the Eredivisie cancelled all league games for this past weekend to help their team.

Tottenham and Ajax have met just twice in competitive matches till date, in the UEFA Cup Winners Cup way back in 1981. Ahead of the mouth-watering contest on Tuesday night, we at The Hard Tackle take a close look at both the teams.

A winner between the two tonight, will increase the chances of making it to the 2019 Champions League finals later in June.

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According to Goal, the Blancos have no desire to sell Varane, who remains a key part of the team having won the World Cup with France this past summer.

Their lack of flexibility when it comes to price is designed to send a message that Varane is effectively not for sale as well as confirming to the player himself that the club still values his contributions.

French newspaper  L’Equipe recently reported that Varane is mulling over his future at the club as he appears to be in search of a new challenge, despite the recent return of compatriot Zinedine Zidane as manager.

The defender has a contract through 2023, making him difficult to pry away from the club, but Varane is also reportedly interested in pay rise befitting the status of a World Cup winner and four-time Champions League winner.

In recent weeks, Varane has been linked to Juventus and Manchester United, though he himself has not come out and spoken out against reports of him leaving the club.

Varane, who initially moved to Madrid from Lens in the summer of 2011, said he does not “feel like talking” about his future in a recent interview with  Le Parisien.

But Zidane was very open about his plans for the central defender, saying he does not want Varane leaving the club any time soon.

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The England international has been developing well in recent years and attracting attention of many teams. Aside from Barca, reports claiming that Atletico Madrid and two Manchester teams are also keen on him.

Chilwell’s deal with Leicester won’t be up until 2024, so any teams interested on signing must prepare some cash. The media believes the Premier League side will want at least around 30 to 50 million pounds for the defender.

Barca themselves are yet to agree on any extension for Alba and their search for new left back shows that they’re ready to move on. The Catalan side are working to replace some of their old guards with a smooth transition.

Chilwell has been considered as one of the most exciting left back in England. His impressive and consistent displays from club and country earned him that affection from top teams.

The left back will certainly appreciate Barca’s interest, but Leicester are not an easy team to deal with. The Foxes are not giving away their important players cheaply.

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The Daily Record understands the Spain international has agreed a pre-contract with the Ligue 1 champions after being left unimpressed by United’s offer of a new long-term deal.

A €36million release-clause signing from Athletic Bilbao in 2014, Herrera has made 187 appearances for United across his five campaigns in English football.

 Executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward elected to activate a single-season option on Herrera’s initial Old Trafford deal last summer instead of agreeing an improved contract; and then failed to tie the 29-year-old down after he established himself as a “vital” part of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s preferred starting XI.

Manchester United’s new manager had wanted to retain Herrera for his first full campaign in charge of the club.

“His energy and tenaciousness is vital for us,” Solskjaer said recently. “And that’s why he plays, more or less, every single game. He has loads of energy, he can cover the right-hand side, he runs forward.”

PSG have prioritised midfield additions as they head into a second season under Thomas Tuchel. The Qatar-owned club expects to lose Adrien Rabiot in the summer after the France international refused to sign a new deal at Parc des Princes. They came close to recruiting Frenkie de Jong from Ajax only for the young Netherlands midfielder to choose to move to Barcelona instead.

Woodward’s practice of delaying on contract renewals has proven expensive to United in recent times. The chief executive was forced to hand Marouane Fellaini an inflated deal worth more than €12m per annum to prevent the Belgian from exiting on a free transfer last summer.

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United shot stopper David de Gea, Romelu Lukaku and Anthony Martial are the surprise misses from the list.

Napoli has also one player by the names of Kalidou Koulibaly making the shotlist.

Bayern Munich, Chelsea, Roma, Marseille and Tottenham have two players shortlisted.

Barcelona has seven nominees shortlisted. Among these include; Messi, Ivan Rakitic and others.

Liverpool has seven players; Alisson, Virgil van Dijk, James Milner, Sadio Mane, Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino.

GOALKEEPERS

Alisson, Hugo Lloris, Keylor Navas, Jan Oblak, Marc-Andre Ter Stegen

DEFENDERS

Virgil van Dijk, Raphael, Sergio Ramos, Marcelo, Diego Godin, Giorgio Chiellini, Samuel Umtiti, Jordi Alba, Kalidou Koulibaly, Kostas Manolas, Lucas Hernandez, Jose Maria Gimenez, Gerard Pique, Joshua Kimmich, John Stones

MIDFIELDERS

Luka Modric, N’Golo Kante, Kevin De Bruyne, James Milner, Casemiro, Isco, Toni Kroos, Paul Pogba, Ivan Rakitic, David Silva, Miralem Pjanic, Saul Níguez, Eden Hazard, Dimitri Payet, Florian Thauvin

FORWARDS 

Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Sadio Mane, Kylian Mbappe, Neymar, Antoine Griezmann, Harry Kane, Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino, Edin Dzeko, Robert Lewandowski, Paulo Dybala, Luis Suarez, Edinson Cavani, Gareth Bale

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De Bruyne has been out for the last two months due the right knee injury he had sustained earlier in August.

Manchester United loanee Timothy Fosu-Mensah fell on De Bryune’s knee that escalated the injury.

The Belgian will miss Manchester weekend match against Southampton. He may also fight hard to come back to face Chelsea on December 8.

‘The previous injury was more dangerous than this one,’ Guardiola said. ‘The doctor said he was sad. Today he was less sad and the next day he’ll be strong again.

‘I’m more concerned when it’s muscular injuries. When it’s a trauma he’s unlucky with that situation. We are a stronger team with Kevin than without him but we have to live with that.’

De Bruyne will have a trip to Barcelona for treatment alongside with Dr Ramon Cugat.

‘He’ll spend the time with his new boy and his family,’ Guardiola added. ‘Hopefully after the international break, there’ll be two or three more games and after that he’ll back.

‘That will help us in the last part that he will be fresh in mind and body and help us reach our targets. Fortunately it is no surgery.

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Depay 24, has seemingly revived his once-promising career that came to a relative halt during a failed stint at Old Trafford.

Since arriving in France in a cut-price £14m deal, the Netherlands forward has scored 31 goals and registered 29 assists in 82 games but has lashed out at the club and media for what he deems as a ‘lack of respect’ over his ability.

The comments were made straight after playing a starring cameo role as a second-half substitute to overturn a 1-0 deficit, with a goal and an assist in the 2-1 league triumph over Angers.

“I’m sick of hearing every time that I changed the match,” Depay said, as quoted by ESPN. I still don’t feel like a respected player.”

Memphis Depay scored a stunning goal for Lyon against Angers

“I get the job done every time, I’m mentally strong. I have to accept the coach’s decisions.”

“I’m a little disappointed, I think I deserve more respect. I deserve better than that and I should play every game.”

The positive reaction was in stark contrast to Depay’s behaviour before the game at the Stade Raymond Kopa as the former PSV star stayed on the team bus while his teammates headed into the ground.

And he sat on a matchball while the rest of the squad warmed up before the game.

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Sanchez was not present in open training at United’s Carrington training complex on Monday morning after he entered late on in the 2-2 draw with Chelsea on Saturday.

Manager Jose Mourinho confirmed Sanchez among the players who won’t be playing in his Monday press conference (Courtesy Daily Mail)

The 29-year-old flew into London from Chile on Thursday and stayed in the capital where he gathered with teammates ahead of Saturday’s match at Stamford Bridge.

Sanchez will be joined on the sidelines on Tuesday night by Diogo Dalot, Marouane Fellaini, Jesse Lingard, Scott McTominay and Phil Jones.

“The players you saw are the players that are available,” Mourinho said. “Nothing to hide and Alexis is out.”

Mourinho urged the United players to focus on their performance rather than the ‘awful’ result at Stamford Bridge, where a 96th-minute Ross Barkley equaliser denied them victory. The United manager admitted there were mixed feelings as the squad left Stamford Bridge.

“Against Chelsea, there were contradictions in our feelings because, by one side everybody was happy with the collective performance but not the result, so there were contradictory feelings.” He said.

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Ronaldo’s fifth Serie A goal for Juventus was added to his 84 Premier League goals he scored for Manchester United and 311 in La Liga for Real Madrid.

Ronaldo scored the goal tapping in from close range after Genoa failed to clear their lines when Joao Cancelo‘s shot took an awkward deflection inside the box.

The Portuguese star found himself free from close range and he side-footed into the net

Ronaldo’s milestone puts him 10 goals above the second top scorer in Europe’s main leagues, Lionel Messi – who scored his 390th La Liga goal for Barcelona in their 4-2 win against Sevilla.

However, Juventus’ perfect start to the season came to an end in Turin on Saturday as Genoa earned a 1-1 draw and the visitors dropped the first points this season.

The hosts dominated most of the game having 21 shots but only three were on target – all from Ronaldo, who had 11 efforts in total in the first half of the game. The draw left the defending champions four points above second-placed Napoli who won 3-0 against Udinese later on Saturday.

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It completes a dramatic turnaround for the 23-year-old, whose career at United had appeared doomed after a steady stream of public and private criticism by Jose Mourinho.

Shaw struggled under Jose Mourinho at first, but is now a mainstay in the manager’s team

Shaw, 23, has enjoyed a superb start to the season and United’s belief in his talent partly convinced them to abandon a move for Juventus full-back Alex Sandro in the summer.

Mourinho informed Shaw while he was on holiday in early June that he would stay at the club as he approached the last year of his contract and the Manchester Evening News revealed that month United were prepared to offer the England international a new deal.

Shaw has been harshly criticized by Mourinho in press conferences a number of times, with the United manager last year claiming Shaw’s performance against Everton that ‘he had a good performance which was his body with my brain’.

Following the announcement of his new deal, Shaw said: “Since I came to United it’s been a whirlwind four years that have passed so quickly. I am very proud to sign my new contract and continue my stay at this great club”.

The contract, worth upwards of £150,000 a week, completes a dramatic turnaround at United

‘If you look at my situation in the last year, you would have thought this would have been impossible. But I worked hard and I wanted to make sure my future was here and to help this club, so I am really happy”. He claimed.

“It’s been an odd five years for me. There have been ups and downs but now it is all about looking forward”. He continued.

Meanwhile, the under-fire Portuguese boss was full of praise for one of his stand-out players this season.

“Luke fully deserves this contract. He understood his development process, he has worked really hard at every level and he always believes in himself which is a great attribute to have. Luke is still young and improving and he must feel very proud of himself”. He said.

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