Real Madrid v Tottenham Hotspur – live!

• Hit the auto-update button for the latest posts • Send your thoughts to paul.doyle@guardian.co.uk • Follow minute-by-minute coverage of Inter v Schalke •  And keep up to speed with all of tonight’s live scores 7:42pm: “My god, I thought the San Siro was the best football stadium on the planet but having walked out here a moment ago – my god, this is the best football stadium on the planet,” exults Ray Wilkins on Sky. 7:35pm: Either the noise in the Bernabeu is incredibly loud, or Sky are using some canned cheers to drown out the analysis of Glenn Hoddle … Mr ‘Arry Redknapp, live from the tunnel: “The plan is to make sure we stay in the game tonight. We’re going to make sure we use the pace we have in the wide positions and attack them at every opportunity.” The Special One on Spurs: “They are the team that has improved the most since I left England. I like the way they play, they can mix an English style and a continental style.” 7:25pm: “Hey Paul, why do you have a press photo from Two and a Half Men at the top of this report?” jabbers Phil West. “Charlie Sheen looks remarkably well but Jon Cryer doesn’t appear to have taken the cancellation so well. and how about 3-2 to Spurs for a prediction? OK, the first bit was funnier ….” Preamble: Tonight we go some way to finding out who Spurs are: are they this season’s Monaco or Valencia, the unheralded side who win the admiration of neutrals by striding fearlessly all the way to the Champions League final? Or are they basically streakers, a band of amusing interlopers who briefly entertain the crowd before being put back in their place with a colossal kick up their scrawny backsides? Spurs are sure to attack tonight, or at least try to. But how effectively can they do that? Their forwards have let them down in the Premier League this season, which is why Everton, Bolton, Newcastle and Blackpool have all scored more goals than them, but in Europe they have tended to be more clinical: they may have mustered fewer shots and corners than any of the other quarter-finalists, yet they are the tournament’s joint top-scorers … along with Real. The home side will certainly go for the kill tonight – and the stony-paced Corluka is in for a severe trial at the hands of Cristiano Ronaldo and Marcelo – but the presence of Lennon and Bale means they have the wherewithal to punish Real rampaging full-backs on the counter, especially Sergio Ramos. If Peter Crouch and Rafa Van der Vaart have their shooting boots on, Spurs could get an away goal or two to set up a gigantic return match at White Hart Lane. Prediction? How about 3-1 to Real, with Bale to pull up injured after 20 minutes, Van der Vaart to do likewise after about 50 minutes, Gallas and Adebayor to be red-carded for an almighty strop-off, and Jose Mourinho to hijack the headlines by cartwheeling across the pitch around the 88-minute mark and/or jumping into the stands to nut Joe Jordan. Teams: Real: Casillas; Sergio Ramos, Pepe, Carvahlo, Marcelo; Di Maria, Xabi Alonso, Ozil, Khedira; Adebayor, Cristiano Ronaldo Subs: Adan, Kaka, Diarra, Granero, Arbeloa, Garay, Higuain Spurs: Gomes; Corluka, Gallas, Dawson, Assou-Ekotto; Lennon, Sandro, Modric, Bale; Van der Vaart; Crouch Subs: Cudicini, Huddlestone, Jenas, Pavlyuchenko, Defoe, Bassong, Kranjcar Referee (and also a banker, so altogether a very popular man, no doubt): F Brych (Germany) Champions League Real Madrid Tottenham Hotspur Paul Doyle guardian.co.uk

Posted by on April 5, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.