Tottenham ace Dele Alli refused to swap shirts with Real Madrid stars after famous Champions League win
Wednesday night’s Champions League hero netted a double to set up Spurs’ stunning 3-1 victory
THE good news for Tottenham fans is they will NOT be seeing Dele Alli in a Real Madrid shirt anytime soon.
Last month’s Champions League hero refused to swap his jersey with any of the Real stars after his double strike set up Spurs’ stunning 3-1 win.
Asked if he had got one of the Galacticos tops after the final whistle at Wembley, Dele replied: “No.”
The 21-year-old playmaker’s short and simple response was perhaps a very telling one.
It suggested after the fanfare and hoo-hah of his European and international bans — and subsequent stuttering start to this season — English football’s most exciting and hot-headed young star just wants to concentrate on playing football.
Good on him.
His red mist and red card in last season’s Europa League exit at the hands of Genk meant Wednesday meant he missed Spurs’ first three Group H games serving a three-game suspension.
Many believe the ban is why Dele has this season looked a shadow of the player that had taken the Premier League by storm since joining Tottenham from MK Dons in the summer of 2015.
So, to celebrate his return to Euro action with a double against Real Madrid — even if his overall performance was still not back to his usual high standards — will give him and boss Mauricio Pochettino a major boost going forward.
Poch had warned that Dele was coming and so it came to pass as the midfielder’s goals — the first ever by a Spurs player against Real — made it 2-0 in 56 minutes.
Dele — who also copped a one-match England ban for a one-finger gesture he claimed was aimed at Three Lions team-mate Kyle Walker — said: “Obviously being suspended I was ticking off the games waiting to get back out there.
“I am thankful that the manager put trust in me and put me back in the starting XI because the boys were performing very well before. I’m delighted. It was a great night. I wouldn’t say the ban affected me but its not nice.
“Any player will tell you when you are sat on the sidelines and the team is performing you want to be out there helping, fighting alongside your team-mates and the fans.
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“I was happy to get the two goals but, more importantly, it was a solid performance by everyone.”
Pochettino admitted his team’s first-ever win over the 12-time European champions — which clinched their place in the Champions League knockout stages with two games to spare. — was an historic one for Tottenham.
And the Spurs chief claimed it sent shockwaves around Europe, showing his side now deserve to be considered among the best on the continent.
But Dele insisted: “We don’t think too much about what other clubs think of us. As a team we are confident in ourselves and whoever we come up against we are going to want to beat.
“The way the manager talks to us in the meetings gives us a lot of self-belief. Tactically we are very strong, we put a lot of trust in the manager and he puts a lot of trust into us.
“We feel like we can beat everyone. I think the main thing was we played well as a team.
“You never know what team the manager is going to select.
“I was happy to get picked in the starting XI and as soon as I was out there I wanted to fight for the team, the fans.
“It was important to get the result, happy with the two goals — but more importantly we won.
“Maybe there have been a lot of games I have performed better and not scored. Each game unfolds differently. You can have games where you play poorly and score and games you play your best and don’t find the back of the net.
“I was happy with my performance in this one — but there is always room for improvement.”
Indeed, Dele could and should have finished the night with a Wembley hat-trick when he failed to stick away a header from full-back Kieran Trippier’s late cross.
He smiled: “I hoped you wouldn’t bring that up!
“Obviously It was a fantastic ball by Kieran and I’m obviously very disappointed not to put it in the back of the net — but I’m happy with the two goals.”
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Spurs face rock-bottom Crystal Palace on Sunday aiming to bounce back from last weekend’s 1-0 defeat at Manchester United.
And Pochettino has already warned off any complacency after Wednesday’s result.
Dele added: “We have been a bit unfortunate the last two seasons in the Premier League, coming second and third.
“It’s important we don’t get carried away with the way we played.
“We have to keep making sure we build together as a team, keep working together on the training field and make sure we are putting in performances at the weekend.”