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Thursday, April 14, 2011

Tottenham Hotspur 0-1 Real Madrid

Real Madrid are through to the Champions League semifinals after eliminating Tottenham Hotspur 5-0 on aggregate. The Whites leave London with a 0-1 victory in their hands after Gomes failed to clear a powerful right footer by Cristiano Ronaldo. Unfortunately for Mourinho, who today coached his 500th match, Carvalho will sit out the first leg of the semifinals against Barcelona after being booked in the first half.

With the exception of Di Maria, Mourinho didn’t rest anyone for Saturday’s Clasico. Marcelo took position in the midfield and Madrid came out unwilling to forfeit ground to a motivated Spurs side. The stands quieted momentarily on 2’ when Ozil, after connecting with Adebayor, sent a shot into the hands of Gomes.

Madrid controlled the ball in the midfield as Spurs attempted to exploit the left flank, where Bale failed to find a teammate on two quick advances on goal. Although the English side favored the left, it was from the right that Lennon found a lane and put in a perfect cross that Pavlyuchenko sent over the crossbar. Twenty-six minutes had ticked off the clock and it was Tottenham’s only decent chance. The Xabi Alonso-Khedira-Ozil trio instilled order and pace to the match as the Whites milked the clock. Gomes cleared a Ramos header on 36’ to keep Spurs alive.

Once in the second half, Cristiano Ronaldo received the ball 25 meters out and fired a rocket towards goal but straight at the keeper. Gomes’ hands buckled upon impact and the ball’s momentum carried it into the net. There was nothing more Tottenham could do.

With a spot in the semifinals all wrapped up, the match came down to who would walk away victorious. Tottenham continued applying pressure and Pavlyuchenko could have netted the equalizer but his header sailed high. Granero stepped in for Ramos on 58’ and Kaka replaced Cristiano eight minutes later. The Brazilian came close to putting Real’s second on the board but Gomes cleared to corner. Recovered from injury, Benzema came in for Xabi Alonso with 14 minutes left in regulation. The Champions League returns to the Bernabeu on Wednesday 27 April when Real Madrid host Barcelona in the first leg of the semifinals, but first the two meet this weekend in league play.

Composition Player
Tottenham: Gomes, Corluka, Dawson, William Gallas, Benoit Assou-Ekotto, Lennon (Defoe 61 '), Tom Huddlestone (Sandro 71'), Luka Modric (Niko Kranjcar 83 '), Gareth Bale; Rafael Van der Vaart, Roman Pavlyuchenko.

Real Madrid: Casillas, Sergio Ramos (Granero 57 '), Carvalho, Raul Albiol, Arbeloa, Xabi Alonso (Benzema 75'), Sami Khedira, Cristiano Ronaldo (Kaka 65 '), Ozil, Marcelo, Emmanuel Adebayor.

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