Real Madrid vs. Tottenham: Spurs with a chance to prove naysayers wrong
By Gary Pearson
The stage is set. It’s time for Tottenham, as the Lilywhites prepare to take on the Champions League holders in one of the world’s most storied stadiums, to show how far they’ve progressed on the European stage.
Mauricio Pochettino’s side is set to show the world they not only belong on this stage, but should be considered as intriguing outsiders to win Europe’s most coveted club football trophy.
Tactics will play a big part in determining the outcome of Tuesday’s match in the Spanish capital. The gaffer will wholly understand the gargantuan task at hand and will instill a required reserved confidence in his side. The importance of the first 20 minutes cannot be overstated. Spurs must stave of a rampant Madrid attack in the inchoate stages of the match.
Get through the first quarter of the match unscathed and Pochettino’s men will have a solid chance of escaping with at least a share of the spoils. Playing in a stadium renowned for creating unease and incumbent tension for visiting clubs, Spurs will do everything in their power to maintain parity in the early going.
Spurs haven’t mustered a win in four previous matches with the defending Champions League winners. Outscored 6-0 in those four matches, Tottenham took a solitary point from the Galacticos. However, Spurs were shelled 5-0 on aggregate in the 2010-11 quarterfinals of the competition.
This year’s squad is unarguably stronger, more confident and immeasurably more resilient than that Spurs edition.
Dele Alli, serving the last game of his three-match ban, is unavailable for the contest, while Mousa Dembele and Victor Wanyama are also set to miss the match through injury. On the Madrid side of things, Dani Carvajal, Gareth Bale, Mateo Kovačić are also expected to view the match from the sidelines.
Both teams are enjoying their football of late, Spurs avoiding defeat for almost two months. The last time the North London succumbed was on Aug. 20, when Chelsea escaped Wembley with a narrow, and undeserved, 2-1 win.
Tottenham’s road form remains unblemished thus far, Pochettino’s men winning seven away fixtures on the bounce. To find Tottenham’s last road blip you’d have to peer back to May 5, when Spurs lost 1-0 to West Ham at London Stadium. In those seven away matches, Spurs outscored their opponents by a staggering 28-4 margin.
Madrid’s record, while solid, isn’t nearly as impressive. The Galacticos lost 1-0 to Real Betis at home on Sept. 20, less than a month ago.
The match will boil down to how lethal, and opportunistic, Spurs are in front of goal. They’re bound to create a few scoring chances on the counter, so the responsibility to capitalize will once again fall on Kane’s shoulders. And Kane has proven time and again he’s up to the challenge.
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Spurs will willingly concede the lion’s share of possession – an oddly favourable harbinger – in order to slow the pace, a scenario that will provide proof of their counter-attacking sharpness.
A draw in Madrid will go a long way to ensure Spurs are one of the remaining 16 teams come the knockout stages. Leaving the Bernabeu with a share of the spoils would position Spurs perfectly with three games to play, and it’s a result that is by no means out of Tottenham’s grasp.