Kieran Tripper claims which player could have led Tottenham to Champions League glory

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Atletico Madrid defender Kieran Trippier has claimed that Tottenham would have beaten in Liverpool in last season’s Champions League Final if they’d kept Mousa Dembele.

In an interview with the Beautiful Game Podcast, the right-back has claimed the absence of the Belgian was sorely felt in last summer’s showpiece match.

Trippier’s former club went down 2-0 to Liverpool in the final but the England man believes it could have been different.

He told the Beautiful Game Podcast: “They’ve got quality players, but for me, the little fine margins of winning something is obviously when Mousa left.

“As a player, you don’t want to see a player like Mousa leave, especially in January. Unless there was something that he needed to leave or whatever, I honestly don’t know.

“It didn’t make sense because he’s the fine margins of winning the Champions League final. That’s how good he was.”

Dembele joined Tottenham in 2012 signing for £15 million from London rivals Fulham. He would spend seven memorable years at Spurs, developing a huge rapport with the club’s supporters.

His departure in January 2019 came as a shock, with Guangzhou taking him to China for £11 million (The Guardian).

Trippier left the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium during the summer and has been in decent form for Los Rojiblancos.

The 29-year-old will be dreaming of Champions League glory with his new club, after finally getting one over Liverpool in the round of 16.

TBR View – Trippier might be right, Dembele could have taken Tottenham to the promised land

It would have been quite a story had Tottenham lifted the Champions League trophy last season and Dembele could have made the difference.

The man with 82 caps for his country was adored by the Spurs faithful. He featured 249 times and proved one of the Premier League’s most underrated midfielders.

Liverpool have enjoyed great success over the last 18 months and even with Dembele in the team, Tottenham might still have lost.

His presence was so often seen as crucial, however. On that night in Madrid, the Liverpool midfield outbattled Spurs.

With that in mind, Tottenham fans would be forgiven for wondering what might have been had Dembele not been allowed to leave in January.