Tottenham Hotspur v Real Madrid – First half review: UEFA Champions League - Part 1
Real Madrid and Tottenham kicked off the second leg of their UEFA Champions League quarterfinal at White Hart Lane on Wednesday 13th of April, 2011 with a bang as Harry Redknapp decided to field Thomas Huddlestone in the home side’s midfield area. Huddlestone was deployed alongside http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Wilson-Palacios-c36948 were left out of the side.
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Roman-Pavlyuchenko-c31639 was also included in the starting eleven for Tottenham, as the Russian took Peter Crouch’s place up front due to the ex-Liverpool player’s suspension.
On the other hand, Real Madrid played a 4-2-3-1 formation with http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Xabi-Alonso-c37045, and Marcelo made up Real Madrid’s midfield.
Real Madrid started the match as the stronger of the two sides with their four goal advantage from the first leg win at Santiago Bernabéu; Jose Mourinho’s men were high in confidence since in only the 1st minute of the match, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Cristiano-Ronaldo-c9629 hit the deck due to Assou-Ekotto’s high footed challenge. The referee spotted the dangerous tackle by the Cameroonian full back and awarded Real Madrid their first free kick of the match.
Xabi Alonso stepped up to take the free kick as the Spanish playmaker found Mesut Ozil in space just outside the Tottenham penalty area. The German midfielder showcased tremendous skill as he blitzed past Corluka, however, his eventual finish was a weak one as Gomes gathered the ball with ease. In the 4th minute, Real Madrid got away with murder as Gareth Bale was played in for Tottenham down the left hand side of the home team’s offensive line up.
Bale used his pace to leave Sergio Ramos standing but then he was apparently tackled to the ground by Alonso who was covering for his compatriot. Bale went down to the ground but the referee waved play onwards as he thought that the contact between the Welsh winger and Alonso was minimal. However in the aftermath of the tackle, Alonso confronted Bale as he accused the Tottenham forward of diving in order to gain a penalty kick.
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