MADRID – Mauricio Pochettino will wait until the last minute to decide whether Tottenham Hotspur striker Harry Kane is fit enough to face Liverpool in the Champions League final on Saturday.
Kane has said he feels ready to start in Madrid, despite not playing since damaging ankle ligaments in the quarter-finals against Manchester City last month.
Asked in a press conference on Friday if Kane would play, Pochettino said: “I don’t know. We have one training session left, and then we are ready to decide.”
If Pochettino picks Kane, it would deliver a significant boost to Spurs, but they have survived without him, with Lucas Moura taking Spurs to Madrid with an incredible second-leg hat trick that knocked out Ajax in the semis.
“It is not going to be easy to take a decision tomorrow,” Pochettino said.
“We have all the information, and we know every single detail. To try to win, you can only use 11 players – that is the most painful situation.
“I proposed a few weeks ago that the whole squad do a picture together before the game, and I think Uefa have listened.
%%%twitter https://twitter.com/hashtag/UCLfinal?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#UCLfinal! #MarchToMadrid⚪️ #COYS https://t.co/kWwQ1TzrNf
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial)
“We talk about the value of the game – many things have happened in England, a lot of problems, and tomorrow we have one billion people watching, and we can show the value of football.
“I think tomorrow is about showing togetherness, and it is a great chance to show the value of a collective sport.”
Tottenham have reached their first ever European Cup/Champions League final, while Liverpool are bidding to win the tournament for a sixth time after losing to Real Madrid in the final last year.
%%%twitter https://twitter.com/hashtag/UCLfinal?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#UCLfinal⚪️ #COYS pic.twitter.com/B3MCQzAEPw
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial)