Danny Rose says Tottenham can win the Champions League after ‘testing’ season

Danny Rose says Tottenham can win the Champions League after they stunned Manchester City to reach the semi-finals.

Spurs booked their place in the last four of Europe’s premier club competition for the first time in 57 years on away goals despite a dramatic 4-3 defeat at Etihad Stadium.

They lost that European Cup tie against Benfica in 1962 and when asked whether Spurs could win the tournament, Rose told Standard Sport: “We’re in the semis and we’ve had a hard run. We started the tournament very badly. We had to get something from Barcelona [in the final group game] and we did [with a 1-1 draw to qualify].

“We beat the potential German champions Dortmund [in the last 16] and potentially the English champions in City, so we’ve taken the hardest route to the semi-finals and we’re full of confidence. Can we win it? Why not? We’re in the semis and we’ll see how it goes. We are in a great position. We’ve taken a very hard route to get there and the manager expects us to beat anyone we play against, whether that’s in England or in the Champions League.

“It will be no different in the semi-final. We’re looking forward to it and we are not scared of anybody.”

Rose admitted Tottenham have endured a difficult campaign, becoming the first Premier League club not to make any signings during either transfer window since they were introduced in 2003 before being forced to wait until the final two months of the season to play in their new £1billion stadium.

“It says a lot about the team [to reach the semi-finals],” said the England defender. “It’s been a frustrating season in some ways.

“We didn’t sign anybody — I don’t know if that was the plan. The stadium has not been straightforward. We were once involved in a title race and now we’re involved for a place in the top four.

“So, it’s been testing. A lot of people go on about our mentality but we’ve had a lot of hurdles to jump over and we’re doing very well. We should all be proud — players, management and all the staff behind the scenes — because we’re in a great position now. We just want to finish strongly.”

Rose dedicated the achievement to Tottenham’s plethora of injured players, including skipper Harry Kane, Harry Winks, Serge Aurier and Eric Dier — and Moussa Sissoko was due to be assessed today after being forced off with a groin problem during the first half last night.

“It doesn’t mean more because Harry [Kane] is not here and doesn’t mean less because Harry is not here,” he added.

“We wish he was fit but he’s not. We’ve done it for him, for Harry Winks, for Serge, for Eric Dier.

“We just hope Harry [Kane] is back as soon as possible.”