Football: Champions League semifinal heroes may miss out

Lucas Moura's hat-trick put Tottenham into the final. Photo / AP

Lucas Moura and Divock Origi have been the unlikely heroes for Tottenham and Liverpool in the Champions League this season.

They kept alive their team's hopes of winning the European title with crucial goals and decisive performances. Without them, the English sides probably wouldn't have reached today's final in the Spanish capital.

But despite helping their teams into the final at the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium, both may miss out on playing in the match because of the return from injuries of Harry Kane and Mohamed Salah.

Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino will have to choose between the in-form Moura and the recently recovered Kane, while Liverpool's Jurgen Klopp will have to bench Origi or rearrange his attack to leave him in the line-up along with Salah. Neither coach gave anything away yesterday.

"If Pochettino says his exact line-up, call me and I will tell you our line-up as well," Klopp said. "If not, then I thought I'd keep at least a few question marks open."

Pochettino kept quiet.

"It's not going to be easy to take a decision," he said. "We are going to take the best decision to try to win. It's so painful when this type of game arrives and you can only use 11 players from the beginning."

Moura has been starting since Kane hurt an ankle ligament in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals. The Brazilian scored a second-half hat-trick that allowed Spurs to storm back from 3-0 down in their semifinal tie against Ajax. The hat-trick included a 96th-minute goal in Amsterdam that sealed the comeback and the team's first Champions League final appearance in just their sixth campaign.

Moura, who joined from Paris Saint-Germain in January 2018, also scored a crucial late equaliser against Barcelona in the team's final group game in December, securing Spurs a spot in the knockout stage.

"All of this is a dream and now I have the opportunity to play in the final and to win the competition I have always dreamt about," Moura said. "Without a doubt, it's the best moment of my career."

Origi replaced Salah after the Egyptian was concussed in a Premier League game against Newcastle just before the second leg against Barcelona in the Champions League semifinals. Origi scored a late winner against Newcastle after replacing Salah in the second half, then was crucial in the return match against Barcelona, scoring twice in the 4-0 win that put the team in the final for the second straight season.

Kane has been a mainstay in the Tottenham attack, but even before his injury, some had been calling for Moura to get more game time. The versatile and pacy 26-year-old Brazilian can play different attacking positions, including as an attacking midfielder, and could even play alongside Kane if Pochettino wanted.

For Moura, the Champions League final could give him another opportunity to show Brazil coach Tite he made a mistake by leaving him out of this month's Copa America squad. Tite announced the team shortly after Moura's superb display in the Champions League semifinals but it wasn't enough to persuade the coach.

Salah fully recovered from his concussion and is more certain to make his Champions League return this morning. He played only about 30 minutes of last year's final because of a shoulder injury sustained in the 3-1 loss to Real Madrid.

Origi is also versatile in attack and could start alongside Salah and Sadio Mane. But the 24-year-old Belgian will have added competition from Roberto Firmino, who has also been out injured but is fit for the final.

"These are always tough decisions," Pochettino said. "But it's part of my job to decide the starting 11 and to try to win the game."

- AP