>
>
Tottenham will be hoping to keep their European dream alive tomorrow night when they take on Jose Mourinho’s Real Madrid at the Bernabeu.
The Champions League quarter-final first leg is likely to be an extremely intense affair with both teams looking to take an advantage into the second-leg.
For Tottenham, as well as promising to be a famous European night for them, it is also a chance to escape from some inconsistent league form.
Harry Redknapp’s men have failed to pick up a Premier League win in their last four games, unexpectedly dropping points to Blackpool, Wolves, West Ham and most recently Wigan.
Spurs’ chances of finishing in the top four have therefore been decreased of late and they currently sit five points behind Chelsea who occupy the final Champions League spot.
So, to guarantee participation in the pinnacle of European club competition next season, they are going to have to win the tournament this time around. To do this, they will first have to get past Real Madrid in this fascinating quarter-final tie.
This is an extremely tough challenge of course, as it is whenever you take on a team managed by the hugely successful Mourinho.
The Spanish side have an incredible amount of talent at their disposal too, including Cristiano Ronaldo, Xabi Alonso and Emmanuel Adebayor who have all played against Tottenham in the Premier League over the years.
Success in Europe holds significant interest for Madrid this year too, with Barcelona sitting a massive eight points ahead of them at the top of La Liga after they suffered a shock home defeat to Sporting Gijon at the weekend.
This was Mourinho’s first league defeat on home soil as a manager since Porto lost 3-2 to Beira-Mar in 2002, an incredible run stretching 151 games.
The former Chelsea boss is unlikely to be too comfortable with this run coming to an end and will want to put it right against Tottenham. Most Spurs fans would probably have looked at Madrid’s recent result with mixed feelings, that is for sure.
This is all about coming out on top over the two legs though and league form is irrelevant. Redknapp’s men will just be hoping they can come away from Spain with a positive result that leaves things in their own hands going back to White Hart Lane.
A potentially explosive quarter-final between two of the most attacking sides in European football awaits.
