Harry Kane admits the season will be a failure if Bayern Munich do not win the Champions League.
Bayern host Arsenal on Wednesday in the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final, with the first match last week ending in a 2-2 draw.
Bayer Leverkusen romped to the Bundesliga title at the weekend, ending Bayern’s run of 11 straight league trophies and leaving them with only Europe’s highest honour to play for.
While Kane has excelled individually, his wait to win a team trophy after more than a decade without one at Tottenham could well continue.
The England captain told a press conference: “Of course every player, every club wants to win trophies, that’s the ultimate goal every season, but there’s a process into winning, there’s a process individually and in the team.
“You want to improve as a player every year, you want to show the world your capabilities and you want to push yourself to the very limits and you hope that helps with the team.
“Of course, from the club’s point of view it will be a failed season if we don’t win anything this year because we’re expected to win but all we can do is take that into next year and try and turn that around.
“The main thing for us is we still have an opportunity to turn this season into a great season if we win the Champions League. That motivation is still there and as players you can only hang onto that. If we can do something special tomorrow night then of course that keeps that hope alive.
“It’s a time to raise our game, it’s a time for me and the players who have been in big situations, pressure situations, to step up and be counted. It’s going to be an amazing atmosphere. There’s a lot of expectation but I think there’s a good belief among the squad that we can achieve something tomorrow.”
Kane’s history with Spurs adds an extra edge to the occasion, with the striker also having been released by Arsenal as a child.
He played down the significance, saying: “I think it’s something that’s probably built up more from the outside, from the media, from the fans, rather than me myself.
“Of course I had a lot of history with Arsenal playing for Spurs for so many years in that north London derby, obviously it was the biggest game of the season every year probably, but it’s a different chapter, it’s a different moment for me playing for a different team and my focus is trying to beat a really good side.
“Of course I know there’ll be a lot of Spurs fans watching hoping that Bayern Munich go through but I can’t focus on that.
“Maybe it was in the back of my mind, being released from a young age, there was always a point to prove, and I feel like I’m the type of player who throughout my whole career has had points to prove. I don’t think that ever leaves you.
“Now I’m at Bayern Munich and they’re a top team in the Champions League and of course I have history with them but all I can do is try and help Bayern Munich qualify for the semi-finals.”
Ancelotti: Real Madrid are never 'undervalued' in the Champions League
Real Madrid always feel respected by every team in the Champions League, so says coach Carlo Ancelotti.
Madrid overcame holders Manchester City on penalties in the quarter-finals to tee up a last-four clash with Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich.
City dominated much of the second leg in Manchester, yet after a 4-4 draw on aggregate, it was Ancelotti's team who got over the line.
Fourteen-time European champions Madrid, who allowed Karim Benzema to leave for Saudi Arabia at the end of last season, were not fancied to get past City, but Ancelotti does not think his team have been undervalued in this year's competition.
"Madrid is never undervalued in this competition, because everyone knows what we can do," he said.
"We feel respect from everyone."
City's Bernardo Silva called Madrid a "strange" team, a comment that left Ancelotti nonplussed.
"I don't know. We are not strange," he added.
"I think the weight of the shirt weighs in this competition, like history, but I have nothing to answer Bernardo Silva with.
"He is a fantastic player. Last year [City] had a good time and this year we had a good time. That's football."
When it was put to him that Madrid go into this tie as favourites, Ancelotti replied: "It does not worry me. We have confidence to stand up to a team that has not had a great Bundesliga season, but has knocked out Arsenal.
"It comes from eliminating a very strong team in Europe. In the Champions League, history counts a lot and that works in our favour."
Ancelotti has faced Thomas Tuchel nine times in his career, winning three of those games, losing four and drawing twice, and the Italian anticipates another stern test.
He said: "In terms of quality, they are strong in transition, they can play in different ways and are very dangerous. We are two who do not have a very clear identity. We can both play in different ways."
Tuesday's first leg also marks a return to Munich for Ancelotti, who coached Bayern between 2016 and 2017.
"It is very beautiful, a fantastic city, although unfortunately German has never entered my head," Ancelotti said.
"My son did, he learned very well. Munich is a spectacular city to live in."
Real Madrid star Valverde reveals penalty shootout regret
Real Madrid's Federico Valverde conceded he is "bitter" about not taking a penalty in Los Blancos' shootout win over Manchester City in the Champions League.
Fourteen-time European champions Madrid progressed to the last four of the competition by overcoming holders City on penalties at the end of a thrilling tie in the quarters.
Luka Modric missed Madrid's first spot-kick, but Andriy Lunin made saves from Bernardo Silva and Mateo Kovacic to help Carlo Ancelotti's team get over the line and into a semi-final meeting with Bayern Munich.
Valverde, who scored a stunning volley in the 3-3 draw in the first leg at the Santiago Bernabeu, did not take a penalty, and ahead of Tuesday's clash with Bayern, the Uruguayan admitted his regret at not doing so.
"That night I went to bed with the regret of having been able to leave that mark on Real Madrid, of going to the semi-finals with a goal of mine, especially because I am good at penalties," he told reporters.
"But if another team-mate did it, that's fine. But I had a bitter taste, yes.
"Sometimes you have to put aside your ego and pride, recognise that you are very tired and tell the coaching staff that you are not prepared to take a penalty.
"I hope in the future I feel stronger and it doesn't happen again."
Madrid are unbeaten in their last 10 games in the Champions League (W7 D3), all of which have been this season. Only once previously have they had a longer unbeaten run within a single campaign in the competition, going 11 without defeat in the 2016-17 edition (which they would go on to win).
Asked how Madrid's squad are feeling ahead of Tuesday's fixture, Valverde added: "I can talk to you personally: very excited.
"It will be my first time against Bayern in the Champions League and I am happy, looking forward to it.
"Appreciating every moment I spend defending this shield and playing this competition with this shirt."
This is the eighth time Bayern and Madrid have been drawn together in a semi-final in the European Cup/Champions League.
After progressing from four of the first five between 1976 and 2012, Bayern have been eliminated in each of the last two (2013-14 and 2017-18).
Premier League clubs agree in principle to new spending cap
Premier League clubs have voted in favour of the competition potentially creating a spending cap, according to widespread reports.
The Premier League will now work on the studies and legal analysis required to possibly introduce a cap model from the start of the 2025-26 season onwards.
This would replace the current Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR), under which Everton and Nottingham Forest have both been deducted points this season, while Leicester City have been charged with a breach.
At a meeting on Monday, 16 clubs voted in favour of the Premier League performing the required analysis. The model will then be presented to club's at the annual general meeting in June, for another vote.
According to reports, Manchester United, Manchester City and Aston Villa voted against the introduction of a spending cap, which would be tied to a multiple of whatever the lowest-earning side receives via the league's centralised broadcast and commercial deals. Chelsea were said to have abstained.
The cap would form part of the Premier League's "squad cost" rules, which will eventually replace the PSR.
While Everton have secured their safety despite suffering two points deductions worth eight points, Nottingham Forest remain in a relegation battle having been docked four points.
Forest will soon find out the result of their appeal, while Everton were set to have their appeal against the second of their deductions heard in the coming weeks.
Leicester, who have been promoted from the Championship, could face a points deduction next season, having been charged with a breach of the Premier League's regulations during the 2022-23 campaign.
Chelsea, meanwhile, seemingly got around the rules due to their ownership selling two Stamford Bridge hotels to another company within their group.
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