Why a good result for Tottenham can help soften the lure of Real Madrid

The last time Tottenham went to the Bernabeu it was a salutary experience.

Real Madrid exposed the gulf in class between the two teams as Spurs limped away after a 4-0 defeat. The Spanish giants were not content with taking the Premier League club’s dignity. They also wanted their best players.

It was bad enough that a Tottenham side containing Luka Modric and Gareth Bale were routed.

It was made worse when Real cherry-picked the pair and turned them into galacticos. It is impossible to criticise Modric and Bale. Both now have three Champions League winners’ medals in their trophy collections.

From a north London point of view, the Real pair set a very bad example to Harry Kane and Dele Alli.

Six years on, Mauricio Pochettino takes his young team to the Bernabeu. It is a massive test for a side that have huge potential but are prone to growing pains.

The famous stadium is a formidable place to go on European nights. Spurs need to show that they can compete with the best, especially against a club that are eyeing up their prized assets. Tottenham have some cause for optimism. Even though they have not really established a rhythm in the stop-start first weeks of the Premier League campaign, they have a much better balance and are significantly more tactically aware than Harry Redknapp’s side were in 2011.

They may not have eye-catching talents like Modic and Bale in the team - especially with Alli serving the final game of a three-match suspension - but Pochettino has fashioned a unit capable of testing the Spanish aristocrats.

Spurs were nowhere near their best in the 1-0 win against Bournemouth at Wembley on Saturday but their manager can feel bullish about their away form.

While they have yet to feel comfortable in their temporary home at the national stadium, their 100 per cent record on the road gives cause for confidence. They have not played anyone near the standard of Real but the European champions have also struggled to find form in the early weeks of the season.

Zinedine Zidane’s men have already dropped seven points in La Liga. It was October before they won at home in the league. On Saturday they made hard work of an away game against lowly Getafe, Cristiano Ronaldo scoring five minutes from time to give his team a 2-1 victory.

Injuries have limited Zidane’s choices. Modric, Bale and Karim Benzema have been sidelined with knocks. The Croat was rested at the weekend for Tottenham. Bale will miss out on the home-and-away double-header against his former club. Ronaldo has served a five-game suspension for shoving an official, which has added to the coach’s problems.

Some of the zip has gone out of Real’s passing in the past few months. They have not been moving the ball with the bewildering speed they were achieving a year ago. Their pressing game has been less suffocating and has not been conducted as high up the pitch as Zidane would like. The defence has been uncertain.

Tottenham will press harder and Kane can profit from the nervousness in the Real line. If Spurs can engineer swift, accurate possession they will have a chance.

​Pochettino could also be a big factor. Against Bournemouth he switched from a back four to three centre-halves at half-time and Spurs scored almost immediately.

He may have to make adjustments during the game in the Bernabeu. It could make a difference. Zidane, great as he is, does not do tactics.

Spurs will be the best team that Real have faced this season. If they hold their nerve they can come away with something.

A point in Madrid should mean that Borussia Dortmund would need to take maximum points in Group H to finish above Spurs. That is assuming Pochettino’s men beat Apoel Nicosia at Wembley. That should be a straightforward task, notwithstanding their troubles at their temporary home.

There can be no repeat of the trouncing that occurred six years ago in Madrid. A good result might make the Bernabeu just a little less enticing to Tottenham’s young stars. It would be a shame if Spurs end up renewing acquaintances with the likes of Kane and Alli come 2023.