Jan Vertonghen explains why Tottenham Hotspur feel “very confident” ahead of Champions League final

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Spurs face Liverpool in Saturday’s Champions League final at Madrid’s Wanda Metropolitano.

Tottenham Hotspur defender Jan Vertonghen has outlined his desire to cap off “the most beautiful and craziest” year of all by taking the Champions League trophy back to London.

While stopping short of saying it would be their destiny, the Belgium international is nonetheless eager to make the most of the “ideal script” following their superb campaign to reach the final, with Liverpool standing in their way at Madrid’s Wanda Metropolitano this Saturday.

The Lilywhites initially struggled in the Champions League this season, taking only one point from their first three group stage games, which looked as if it would eventually condemn them to either the Europa League or elimination from Europe altogether.

However, late goals in wins over PSV Eindhoven and Inter Milan, before an 85th-minute strike from Lucas Moura against Barcelona at Camp Nou, took Tottenham through to the knockout stage, with Borussia Dortmund and Manchester City duly beaten in the last 16 and quarter-finals respectively.

In the semi-final tie against Ajax, a 1-0 first-leg defeat in North London and a 2-0 half-time deficit in the second leg in Amsterdam left Tottenham with a mountain to climb, but Moura was once again the hero with a hat-trick, the third goal deep in injury time, to propel Spurs into the final on away goals.

“To be playing in a Champions League final is something to cherish,” Vertonghen is quoted by Sky Sports as saying. “How many games have we played to get here eventually? Twelve games? In every single one of them, something crazy happened. At the end of my career, I’ll hopefully look at this and think this was the most beautiful and craziest year of them all.

“I don’t know about destiny. We have to win it, if it is to be destiny. We feel very confident because of our campaign as well. I will always be able to say I was part of a Champions League final but you want to tell a different story to your kids and this is the ideal script.”