Jose Mourinho has refused to bet on any team in the Champions League final after the overwhelming rollercoaster of emotions he had to endure this past week.
The Portuguese manager believes there cannot be a clear favourite and no amount of preparation can change that for the game on 1 June 2019.
He said, “I don’t know anymore! This week of football, it destroyed everyone that tried to predict. It’s so, so hard. What can I say? I say that both of them they have an incredible opportunity, and both of them come to the final with that feeling of, ‘we are unbeatable, we made the impossible be possible.’
“So I think both, they go with an incredible positive state of mind. Two teams from the same country, it’s something that from my personal point of view, I don’t like it very much.
And I think the level of pressure is higher for somebody to lose and make a team from the same country European champion. Liverpool would prefer to play against Ajax, and Tottenham would prefer to play against Barcelona.
“Anything can happen really. Nobody knows Liverpool better than a manager who works in the Premier League. Nobody knows Tottenham better than a manager who works in the Premier League.
You can study, you can spend the next two or three weeks trying to reduce that unpredictability, but the people that works in the same country, that follows the team week in week out, they know everything about them.
“I believe Spurs will have Harry Kane back. I also believe that it’s impossible for Mauricio [Pochettino] to leave Lucas Moura out. Play Lucas and [Heung-min] Son or play only Lucas and leave Son out, but I think it would be really, really hard for Mauricio to leave Lucas out.”
Asked for a score prediction, he added, “In this moment every prediction is wrong! The only thing that saves my reputation is that I told you to give Ajax what they don’t like and you beat Ajax easily. That’s the only thing that saves my reputation. In terms of results it’s really, really hard to say. Score? Let’s bring the drama until the end and let’s prepare for penalties.”
See Also: Liverpool Champions League Top Scorers 2019 (All Time Top Scorer)
