Son Heung-Min will be extremely important in second leg clash against Ajax

Son missed the first leg because of a yellow card in the quarterfinals and his absence was definitely felt as Mauricio Pochettino’s side struggled to create chances on the attack in the first leg against the Dutch giants.

Tottenham will fight for their Champions League fate on Wednesday in Amsterdam, trailing 1-0 on aggregate to a young and vibrant Ajax side. They were missing several players in the first leg, most notably Harry Kane, who is out for the season with an ankle injury, and Son Heung-Min, their beloved South Korean star who has been absolutely spectacular for the Spurs this season.

The 26-year old has bagged 19 goals in 44 appearances across all competitions this term, including four goals in Champions League play. Two of those goals came in a historic win over Manchester City in the quarterfinals, where he propelled Tottenham to victory in one of the most exciting games of 2019.

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Son has been their main man up front with Harry Kane out and has done quite well to fill his shoes. He showed in the Manchester City game that he is capable of some very special things in the final third, and it will be very important that he brings his best against Ajax on Wednesday.

Son needs to spark Tottenham attack

Tottenham conceded an away goal to Ajax, which in itself will be a hard feat to fight back from as they must keep them scoreless while trying to score two goals in order to advance. But it’s definitely not impossible considering they have their electric forward back in Son Heung-Min.

Tottenham really struggled to create any type of serious chances in the final third last week. They had numerous free kicks, but couldn’t capitalize. Lucas Moura and Fernando Llorente couldn’t break through the Ajax defense, even though Spurs had 51 percent of the possession in the match. They did a solid job of controlling the game, but when it came to actually creating scoring opportunities, they didn’t have that game-changing player.

Son is that player. He has tremendous pace, breathtaking skill, and can score with both feet at any given time. His strength on the ball and ability to beat opposing defenders with his lightning quick speed is something that will be a deciding factor in this second leg in Amsterdam. Ajax has proven to have a strong back line led by youngster Matthijs De Ligt, but Son has done damage to some of the best defenders in the world this year. Most notably when he made the Manchester City defense look foolish with two world-class goals in the quarterfinals of this year’s UCL competition.

Spurs must get off to a fast start

Ajax was firing from kick-off last week and kept that momentum going all match long on the road, creating tons of chances. Frankly, Tottenham is lucky they aren’t down 2-0 or 3-0 in this Semifinal because the Dutch side missed some clear-cut opportunities to put Pochettino’s side away for good.

Tottenham must play at full intensity from the first minute on Wednesday. They got off to a very slow start last week and it clearly showed. They will have to get the ball up to Son as much as humanly possible and give him the opportunities to work his magic in front of goal.

If they can bag a goal in the first 20 minutes while keeping Ajax contained, they will gain important momentum in this match which will be vital to their Champions League fate.

Son Heung-Min will be the man who will look to lead Tottenham to glory if he can find the back of the net in this second leg.