Tottenham Hotspur vs. AFC Ajax is taking place at the still tediously named Tottenham Hotspur Stadium tonight. On one hand, you love to see it: Two young, exciting underdog teams that rarely do well in international tournaments reaching the semifinals of the biggest club football tournament in the world. On the other - you hate to see it: They're facing each other, and the winner will go on and be the underdog against either a perennial championship contender in Barcelona or a legacy club trying its hardest to become a dynasty club in Liverpool.

As it stands, the favorites - not just in this leg but in the tie - are Ajax. Having run rings around Champions League legends Real Madrid and Juventus in the round of 16 and the quarterfinals, a semi-final fixture against the Spuds shouldn't be a challenge at all for the young boys of Amsterdam. They've faced bigger, beat them handily and it's unlikely that manager Erik ten Hag is going to change the formula or ease up on his side now, especially with a treble on the horizon; Ajax are tied at the top of the Eredivisie with PSV Eindhoven and are in the KNVB Cup final against eighth-placed Willem II.

Not only is the narrative in place for a big win, the team is there too - for now. This may be the year where Ajax buck their trend of simply cultivating talent and actually start using it instead, but that doesn't mean this team is set in stone. Star player Frenkie De Jong is already set to move to Barcelona for 75 million euros this summer. Defender Matthijs de Ligt, who at 19 is the youngest ever captain to win a Champions League knock out game, is connected with several Premier League clubs, including Liverpool. David Neres was linked with a move to the Chinese Super League's Guangzhou Evergrande. Once the season is over, it's likely they (among others) will come calling again, this time with a bigger wallet.

This isn't to say that Tottenham Hotspur have no chance. What Mauricio Pochettino has done with that team since taking over in 2014 is nothing short of remarkable. Once seen as Arsenal's north London punching bag, Poch has weathered the end of the Wenger era, cruised through the beginnings of the Emery era and has not only turned the tables domestically over Arsenal but is on the brink of winning the one big trophy that has always eluded them.

It's clear from their form that this is what Spurs are playing for this season. A distant 20 points behind competing for the Premier League title, but also considerably better than Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United (fourth, fifth and six in the league at time of writing), the Spuds-no-more are in the perfect place to have genuine, achievable European aspirations. This is best reflected in their priors with Manchester City: In the Champions League home leg, they had the edge early and maintained it for a hard won 1-0. In the away leg, they went blow-for-blow and hung on, losing 4-3 but winning on away goals; the following week in the Premier League, they lost 1-0 in a game that was noticeably lacking determination on their part.

That, however, could be due to the fatigue that has come to be the team's biggest weakness, and Ajax' biggest bullseye. In the first quarterfinal clash with Manchester City, Golden Boot striker Harry Kane hobbled off the pitch with an ankle injury that has taken him out of the semifinals completely and Mousa Sissoko is still out. Worse is that Son Heung-min is on a card suspension and will miss this fixture.

Tottenham's edges have frayed but the core is still intact, and that includes Christian Eriksen, Jan Vertonghen and Toby Alderweireld, three players who started their careers at Ajax and have (finally) ended up in the Premier League thanks to their export heavy business plan. If anybody is going to know how to beat ten Hag's upstarts, it's his side's veterans.