Alli ties Tottenham’s Champions League success to Russia 2018

Dele Alli has revealed that Tottenham’s bid for Champions League glory were sown at the FIFA World Cup last year.

There were fears that the Tottenham players who were in Russia representing England would break down after the tournament.

However Alli has revealed how the agony and ecstasy of playing on the biggest stage has prepared Spurs’ players for the roller-coaster ride that has taken them into the semi-finals of club football’s most glittering competition.

Spurs had NINE players involved in those Russia 2018 semis altogether, more than any other club, and Alli said: “I think it’s definitely the case that what happened at the World Cup has helped us as a team.

“We got a lot of experience from the tournament, in different situations, winning and losing. With that experience, we have begun to show that we are learning – and that’s what has happened in the Champions League.

“Each season we are improving – in both the Premier League and the Champions League. We are heading in the right direction and we have got to keep doing that.

“When I first came to Spurs, we had a great team, great players – but maybe we didn’t have the experience we needed when we got to this point of the season. But, by sticking together and having tasted various experiences, we are just getting better and better.”

Tottenham have developed a reputation for being nearly-men and big-game bottlers when the heat of competition was at its most intense.

Yet five of their players – Alli, Harry Kane, Kieran Trippier, Eric Dier and Danny Rose – were in the England side beaten by Croatia in that pulsating World Cup semi-final.

Jan Vertonghen and Toby Alderweireld also reached the last four in Russia with Belgium (as did Mousa Dembele, who left Spurs in January to play in China), losing to a France side that went on to become world champions — with Tottenham keeper Hugo Lloris getting to lift the trophy as captain.

Nine months on, Pochettino’s injury-ravaged side survived an epic quarter-final clash with Manchester City in midweek, progressing to the last four on away goals after Raheem Sterling’s added-time ‘winner’ for the home side was disallowed for offside in the build-up.

Spurs will be hot favourites when they meet Dutch giant-killers Ajax for the right to face Liverpool or Barcelona in the final, with the first leg in London on April 30 and the Amsterdam decider eight days later.