Tottenham topped their group and sealed passage into the Champions League knockout stages as Dele Alli inspired a 3-1 win over Real Madrid on a magical night at Wembley.
On a night where the Champions League holders were well off the pace, Spurs - in a Madrid-esque all white strip - were mesmerising as a brace from Alli, whose form Pochettino had promised in Games Of Thrones fashion foretelling that 'winter would come', was rounded off by Christian Eriksen.
With their visitors struggling to find rhythm in the first half, Spurs took the initiative and looked to find both Harry Kane and Alli quickly whenever in possession, as they became more comfortable the chances came their way.
After Kane had gone close, and with Pochettino’s side on top, Harry Winks found Kieran Trippier with an outstanding ball. The former Burnley defender whipped a first-time cross along the turf and into the path of a sliding Alli who poked home to take the lead - although replays appeared to show Trippier was offside.
After a couple of flurries from Zinedine Zidane’s side either side of the interval, Spurs settled once more in the second half. There was understandable concern when a couple of poor decisions from Kane squandered good chances, but they were soon forgotten.
As Eric Dier looked to pick out Christian Eriksen with just over 10 minutes gone since the break, the Dane dummied his ball allowing it to run to Alli, who promptly skipped past Casimero before rattling a shot off Sergio Ramos and past Kiko Casilla.
Having had the vision to let the ball slip to Alli for the second goal, Eriksen was rewarded for his role minutes later when, after Alli had battled with Modric to find Kane, the striker found the playmaker who slotted the home with typical class.
With Spurs looking comfortable, and having been kept out of the game until the closing stages, Cristiano Ronaldo managed to improve his impressive record over the north Londoners and bagged his 10th career goal against them following a goalmouth scramble.
The Ballon d’Or and Fifa Best Men's Player of the Year award holder’s late goal invited the visitors to press for the final 10 minutes, but did little to dampen the mood under the arch as over 80,000 home fans celebrated a memorable night.
