Ajax vs Tottenham: Jose Mourinho explains how Dutch side’s philosophy cost them Champions League final against Spurs

The former Chelsea and Manchester United boss insists Ajax should have adjusted their strategy to secure their place in Madrid

Jose Mourinho insists Ajax should have compromised their philosophy to beat Tottenham and secure a Champions League final place.

The Dutch giants collapsed in the second half against Spurs on Wednesday, with Lucas Moura’s hat-trick bringing the sides level at 3-3 on aggregate and Spurs advancing on the away goals rule.

And the former Chelsea and Manchester United manager is adamant Ajax should have changed their philosophy after securing a 3-0 aggregate lead by half-time in the second leg.

“For me, yes,” Mourinho told beIN Sports. “For me, the philosophy is what makes a team grow up in a direction.

“Every team grows up, you need that base, you need that philosophy, you need that style of play adapted to the quality of the players.

“Ajax deserve all the credit for that and all the admiration of people like us who love football, and we give them the credit they deserve.

“But football is a sporting battle and in battles you need strategy.

“And to win matches, especially special matches, for special matches you need sometimes not to be tied to your philosophy.

“Sometimes you even need to go against your philosophy to win a football match

“And I think if Ajax, in the second half, hide their weaknesses better, but everybody knows their weaknesses, they have to cope with that.

“We saw many example in their attacking situations, we had other situations where Blind and De Ligt were outside.

Ajax react after conceding deep into stoppage time (AP)

“The basic thing you do when you have an advantage is keep your balance all the time – never unbalanced.

“The balance starts exactly with the defensive line in position then after that a certain number of players always behind the ball line.

“But they stuck with their philosophy, they played the game in the second half like they were playing Vitesse in the Dutch league.

“They played like it was a group phase game, or one more game in their own league.

Ajax players lie dejected on the ground as Tottenham celebrate their last-gasp winner (BT Sport)

“And I think in this moment they don’t believe what happened to them.

“Tottenham changed, they used very, very well direct football, they were lucky, they had the gods of football with them, but they chased that luck.”