29th November 2010 – At Camp Nou Barcelona beat Real Madrid 5-0 with a performance that is immediately recognised as one of the greatest of all time. Xavi and David Villa get on the score sheet, Lionel Messi and Andres Iniesta are instrumental. Pep Guardiola watches his team dominate possession at an unprecedented level. They pass the ball wonderfully and tear apart their fiercest rivals. Seven of the starting 11 won the World Cup four months earlier. The opposition are no schmucks – Cristiano Ronaldo, Ricardo Carvalho, Mesut Özil, Iker Casillas. Europe’s most feared coach Jose Mourinho in charge and powerless to stop the force of nature that is the Catalan club.
That’s all Tottenham have to do tomorrow night – match Barcelona’s five-goal win and we’ll go through. Gareth Bale believes it can be done. This is the same player that grabbed the ball out of the net and ran to the halfway line with it when we were 4-1 down to the European Champions. I admire his determination and optimism even if I don’t share it.
The tie was always going to be difficult, but when Peter Crouch got sent off it became nigh on impossible. Failure to pick up Emmanuel Adebayor aside we didn’t play too badly, but Real Madrid were too good. Even without the extra man their quality in every position is undeniable.
Roman Pavlyuchenko, after an impressive performance as provider against Stoke City, will probably replace the suspended Crouch. Whether Harry Redknapp will pick Tom Huddlestone or Sandro I don’t know. I suspect William Gallas will get the nod over Younes Kaboul, but these things will make little difference to the outcome.
It’s over. A wonderful adventure comes to an end tomorrow night at White Hart Lane. This season has been the most enjoyable for a couple of decades and when the final whistle goes and the Champions League adventure ends we’ll have our heads held high.
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