Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino was keeping tight-lipped over whether Harry Kane would start the Champions League final.
Kane has not played since the quarter-final first leg against Manchester City in early April when he suffered a “significant” ankle ligament injury.
The England captain has declared himself fit for the showpiece clash with Liverpool and trained without problem at the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium in Madrid on Friday night.
🎙 Mauricio on team selection: "It’s not going to be easy to make a decision tomorrow and every game you need to take a decision. Tomorrow we will have all the information and we will take the best decision to try to win."#UCLfinal ⚪️ #COYSpic.twitter.com/XkIeBg17uK— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) May 31, 2019
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Kane would likely replace Lucas Moura – the hat-trick hero of Amsterdam – if he was to start and Pochettino is preparing himself for a “painful” decision.
“We have one training session now and then we’re going to decide,” Pochettino said.
“It’s normal that you are asking me, it’s not easy, it is not going to be easy to make that decision tomorrow.
“But it was difficult the last game that we played, the semi-finals, the quarter-finals, the last 16.
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Lucas Moura looks set to miss out despite his hat-trick heroics in the semi-final victory over Ajax in Amsterdam. (Adam Davy/PA)
“Every single game we need to take a decision. Tomorrow is going to be another decision, a decision when we have all the information and we know every single detail, we are going to take the best decision to win.”
Pochettino believes it is a team game and has even insisted with UEFA that his entire 23-man matchday squad will go on to the pitch before kick-off to have their photo taken.
“It is so painful when this type of game arrives and you can only use 11 players from the beginning,” he added. “That is the most painful situation.
“I proposed a few weeks ago to try and get the whole squad to take a picture together – I think UEFA has listened.
“Tomorrow both teams are going to have the possibility for the whole squad to be on the game to take a picture.”
Tottenham are preparing for the biggest game of their history and have a chance to become the unlikeliest European champions in recent memory.
Pochettino added: “It’s amazing to go back 10 months ago when we started the pre-season to believe one day that we would be here.
“Tomorrow is about enjoying for us and to win because we want to write the history. We know very well what we have to do.”
Much has been made of Reds boss Jurgen Klopp’s losing record in finals as he has lost the last six he has contested, including two Champions League finals.
Pochettino, however, believes the fact he has now reached three showpiece events in this competition is the statistic everyone should be focusing on.
Pochettino, right, believes Jurgen Klopp has an enviable managerial record despite his losing run in finals. (Peter Byrne/PA)
“For me, Jurgen is a successful manager, I admire him a lot, he is great, he is happy, optimistic, he is a very good example, I like him a lot,” he said.
“He is a little bit unlucky, the people judge because you lose the final.
“You need to judge that it is the third time he has arrived at the final, the most difficult thing is to arrive at the final.”
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