Historic Champions League Stat Shows Tottenham Could Be Facing Mission Impossible Against Ajax

​While it's certainly an uphill battle for Tottenham Hotspur ahead of the second leg of their Champions League semi-final against Ajax, on the face of it Spurs hardly have a mountain to climb following their 1-0 defeat on Tuesday.

Donny van de Beek's first-half strike has put the ball in Ajax's court thanks to the away goal, but with Son Heung-min returning for their trip to Amsterdam, Tottenham will be confident of finding the net themselves next week.

One thing that isn't on their side, however, is the history books, as coming back from a defeat at home in the first leg hasn't been done in over 20 years in the Champions League.

Furthermore, out of the 17 sides who have lost their first leg at home in Europe's major competition, only the infamous Ajax side of 1995/96 were able to overturn the result to book their place in the final.

That result came one year on from winning the Champions League, but they eventually lost to Juventus in the following final in Rome, having overturned their semi-final match against Greek giants Panathinaikos.

Tottenham striker Harry Kane is likely to be out of action once again in Amsterdam, but the early stages of his rehabilitation process show that the England international could return in time for the Champions League final.

1 - Only one of the 17 previous teams to lose the first leg at home in a European Cup/Champions League semi-final tie has progressed into the final (Ajax in 1995-96). Burdensome. #TOTAJA pic.twitter.com/hXxUbXwFAp

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) April 30, 2019

It's unknown just yet what the immediate future holds for defender Jan Vertonghen, however, as he suffered a horrific head injury before being substituted in the latter stages of the first half.

Source : 90min