UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE QUARTER-FINAL FIRST LEG Real Madrid 4 Tottenham 0:REAL MADRID had so much in their favour already that it was cruel to see them also outnumber Tottenham Hotspur, who saw Peter Crouch dismissed after a quarter-of-an-hour.
Jose Mourinho’s team would surely have come out on top in any case, but the margin is such that the return with the La Liga club is one the White Hart Lane support can enjoy merely for whatever sense of occasion survives. The fourth goal, two minutes from the end, was struck by Cristiano Ronaldo from an angle on the right and the fact that Heurelho Gomes ought to have saved it added to the forlorn tone.
The dismantling of Tottenham was underway in advance of the game itself. Aaron Lennon was taken unwell before kick-off, with the vacancy filled by Jermaine Jenas.
The latter’s sense of privilege lasted for the four minutes it took for Mourinho’s side to take the lead. A deep corner from the right saw Emmanuel Adebayor elude Jenas for a header that Luka Modric could not stop from crossing the line.
If there was group sloppiness then, it was an individual aberration that brought a handicap of another sort in the 15th minute. Crouch, already booked for a foul on Sergio Ramos, attempted a tackle near the opposition’s penalty area and felled Marcelo. The red card from the German referee Felix Brych was unavoidable.
The absence of Lennon had produce an odd reaction from Harry Redknapp, with the manager initially putting Gareth Bale to work on the right.
The obvious danger to Real, beforehand at least, had been the impact of the Welshman from the left. In the group phase Internazionale had not been able to prevent him running free on that flank at San Siro, even with Brazil’s Maicon at right back.
It was to be expected Mourinho, of all managers, would have a better scheme, particularly since he takes such a special pride in his pragmatism. As it was, it took a while before Bale was switched to his natural setting. The midfield showed dash, but the circumstances meant he was then earning his side a moment to catch their breath rather than terrorising Mourinho’s men.
Given the nature of the game, the accent was on resistance. An Angel di Maria drive came off the arm of Michael Dawson rushed towards him, but no penalty was awarded.
In those opening 45 minutes, the spirit of Tottenham in adversity was impressive and also professional since they had the calm to realise that restricting Real here might create optimism for the return leg. The side was ready for defiance.
William Gallas had recovered from a knee injury to re-establish the partnership with Dawson that had done so much to nullify Milan in the last 16 tie. The return of the Frenchman was all the more timely given the opposition’s commitment to attack.
Mourinho may have spoken of a goalless draw being a serviceable result for Real, yet the team selection said otherwise. There were even two wingers in Di Maria and Cristiano Ronaldo.
The latter, of course, cannot be encapsulated in so simple a job description and he was expected by Mourinho to cause a great variety, particularly since his accompanist, Marcelo, was also fit after all the pre-match evasiveness on the subject.
Tottenham knew better than to be passive in the face of the threat. Redknapp’s introduction of Jermain Defoe for Rafael van der Vaart at the start of the second half embodied the outlook.
There was no lack of spirit from the visitors, who broke purposefully through Bale and Defoe in that period, and they took encouragement from an occasional lack of cohesion when Mourinho’s men were trying to set up a shooting opportunity for one another.
Ronaldo even raised his arms to call for animation from the crowd a moment before he tapped a corner to Marcelo, and so had a minor part in helped Real increase the lead after 57 minutes.
The left back crossed and Adebayor was unaccompanied as he placed a meticulous header into the net. Tottenham struggled on, with Gomes tipping over the bar an Adebayor header that would have completed a hat-trick. The former Arsenal striker was deemed to have done sufficient damage and Mourinho replaced him with Gonzalo Higuain.
There was little clemency of any sort for Tottenham on this evening though, and Di Maria’s wonderful angled strike for the third compounded the gloom, with Cristiano Ronaldo applying the coup de grace on 87 minutes, with a low drive inside Gomes’ left-hand post.
Guardian Service
REAL MADRID: Casillas, Sergio Ramos, Pepe, Carvalho, Marcelo, Di Maria (Kaka, 77 mins), Alonso, Ozil, Khedira (Diarra, 61 mins), Adebayor (Higuain, 74 mins), Ronaldo. Subs not used: Adan, Granero, Arbeloa, Garay. Booked: Adebayor, Pepe.
TOTTENHAM: Gomes, Corluka (Bassong, 80 mins), Gallas, Dawson, Assou-Ekotto, Jenas, Sandro, Modric, Bale, Van der Vaart (Defoe, 46 mins), Crouch. Subs not used: Cudicini, Huddlestone, Lennon, Pavlyuchenko, Kranjcar. Booked: Crouch, Van der Vaart, Defoe.
Referee: Felix Brych(Germany).
