Dele Alli outshone Cristiano Ronaldo as Spurs beat Real Madrid
Well, now that should be only a matter of time – unless Real Madrid sign them all up this summer.
It must be a long time since the Spanish club’s dignitaries sat glum-faced in the Royal Box have seen a team in all-white play with such enthusiasm – and Real Madrid have won the Champions League for the past two seasons.
So Dele Alli – after his two goals – is now presumably on the shopping list this summer alongside Harry Kane. Christian Eriksen outplayed Luka Modric and the defensive unit was as solid as anything in England, while the two full-backs excelled in all three thirds of the pitch.
That is what a team performance is all about.
Arguably the most impressive thing about Tottenham’s approach to the game was that from the first whistle every single player wanted the ball.
After attracting so many plaudits at the Bernabeu, the temptation could have been to rest on those laurels and not spoil things by doing something wrong. By contrast, Pochettino’s youngsters were more eager still to do something right.
Roared on by their fans, they chased and chased as former Tottenham player Modric pulled the early strings.
But after falling eight points behind Barcelona at the weekend with a shock defeat to Girona, the Galactico swagger was missing and Tottenham quickly found that with their exuberant endeavour, Madrid could be knocked off their stride.
At first Real Madrid were on the front foot and Tottenham defended manfully, then countered whenever they could. Harry Winks fluffed a good chance and Alli was on his heels when Kieran Trippier crossed venomously – indeed the young England star seemed to be struggling to find his feet on his first taste of Champions League football this season.
Instinctively, though, his foot knew where to be in the 27th minute when Trippier crossed again, admittedly from an offside position. Alli was in the right place to poke the ball over the line.
Until that point, and for a while earlier, Alli had tried to be too tricksy, losing cherished possession too easily in a misguided attempt to steal the big stage.
REUTERS
Dele Alli drills home Tottenham's second
Invalid email
We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you've consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. Read our Privacy Policy
GETTY
Christian Eriksen extended Tottenham's lead over Real Madrid with a well-taken goal
That, of course, is usually owned by Cristiano Ronaldo but a surprisingly quiet first half was only broken when Hugo Lloris flicked aside a fierce near-post shot that was probably going wide anyway.
Tottenham had coped well, though, with the loss of Toby Alderweireld to injury after 24 minutes and could even have gone into the break further ahead but had two penalty appeals turned down.
What they needed, though, was another Alli moment from nowhere. Pushed up alongside Kane as a front two in the second half, the 21-year-old suddenly found himself in space 30 yards from goal. Casemiro went to ground too easily and Alli thought, why not?
His shot may have deflected off Sergio Ramos to wrong-foot Kiko Casilla, but suddenly he was a two-goal hero. No wonder his beam lit up Wembley.
Ronaldo’s face, by contrast, was like thunder. His mood deteriorated even further in the 62nd minute when the only thing preventing Ramos from pulling one back was the back of the Portugal international’s own thighs.
And then it got even better for Spurs. Alli, flying now, turned and picked out Kane. He kept his feet, and his head, and squared to Eriksen and suddenly it was three.
Ronaldo’s mood hardly improved when he scuffed a consolation goal in the 80th minute as the ball rattled around the Spurs area. He had previously never lost at Wembley.
