Write-up by Vic Wee
The quarter closing draw of the Champions League was created these days and involved 3 of the EPL Large Six clubs. Tottenham, Chelsea and Man United. Tottenham arrived out in the half of the draw that integrated Barcelona, Actual Madrid and Shaktar Donesk. Chelsea and United had been left with Inter Milan and Schalke. Without a doubt, Chelsea and United will play each other next whilst Tottenham drew out Genuine Madrid’s card – setting the stage for the meeting of the Blanco clubs.
Brief Historical past
Blanco is “white” in Spanish and is the official colour of the two Tottenham and Real. Tottenham play at Madrid in the initial leg and will be in their yellow away strip although Madrid will play in black in the return leg. This will be the very first ever meeting of Spurs and Genuine in the Champions League or the European Cup in its prior format. The clubs last met in 1984-85 in the UEFA Cup quarter-finals exactly where Genuine eliminated defending Cup holders Tottenham. In the subsequent 26 years, the clubs have gone on contrasting trajectories. Actual went on to a dominant era in the 1990s and 2000s with its Los Galacticos era although Spurs struggled by means of a sequence of below-attaining managers. In that time – Genuine established on their own as the premier club in the globe as a brand name.
REDKNAPP VS MOURINHO
The initial sub-plot in this fixture. Jose Mourinho has locked horns with Harry Redknapp for the duration of his time with Chelsea. He’s proven himself to be a grasp tactician, one particular of the very best in the planet – successful league titles and Champions League trophies with Porto and Inter. Redknapp’s resume about the previous decade is contrastingly modest. He couldn’t stop Southampton’s relegation from the Premier League but served Portsmouth win an FA Cup and rescued Tottenham from relegation in his very first period prior to enjoying accomplishment in the existing Champions League marketing campaign.
There is no doubt that Mourinho is the tactician par excellence in this fixture. He is acknowledged as a defensive mastermind as effectively as an astute attacking strategist. In terms of talent, Mourinho has more at his disposal with the likes of Mesut Ozil, Cristiano Ronaldo, Gonzalo Higuain, Angel Di Maria and Emmanuel Adebayor. Actual also have a globe class defence led by Iker Casillas, Sergio Ramos, Ricardo Carvalho and Pepe. Redknapp is a supervisor with a popularity for encouraging open attacking football. He will want his total complement of stars (barring injury) – Gareth Bale, Rafa Van der Vaart, Luka Modric and Jermaine Defoe – major the charge.
THE SANDRO Effect
This seems like an obscure sub plot in a fixture with so numerous talking factors. Gareth Bale vs Sergio Ramos. William Gallas vs Emmanuel Adebayor – previous Arsenal teammates. Sandro could really end up playing a key function for Tottenham if he’s chosen and wholesome. Versus AC Milan, he was a towering defensive midfield presence – breaking up countless forays and using his strong passing potential to reset Tottenham offensively. I believe he’ll be critical in that contains the likes of Mesut Ozil if Mourinho deploys him as the essential imaginative midfielder. Tottenham will have to target on positional self-discipline because Spanish football is so robust tactically. In the Milan series, Sandro showed his immense good quality which I feel puts him clear above Wilson Palacios for that defensive midfielder position. Check out for Sandro in this fixture.
THE Previous Word
At this stage of the opposition, tactics are a enormous aspect. Mourinho will have an enviable chess set to select from. Tottenham will bank on hoping that their essential stars continue to be nutritious for the two video games. Without Van der Vaart, Bale and Modric, Tottenham really don’t have the imaginative fulcrum to compete with Genuine and could be hammered handily. Regrettably all 3 of them are considerably harm fragile so if Redknapp can keep them healthful, that would be his principal hand in the game. I believe Tottenham have been relatively lucky so far. AC Milan are not in the class of Genuine or Barcelona this season. This will be a main step up for Tottenham in terms of quality of opposition. True are the favorites to advance I feel. The combination of their expertise stage and presence of Mourinho make them an elite staff. Sure they were hammered 5- by Barcelona in La Liga not long ago. They’re not unbeatable. That should give Tottenham some hope of scoring an upset. On paper – its Real Madrid to progress. On the day – anything at all can happen.
About the Author
Vic Wee writes extensively about the thrilling business of the English Premier League. His web site http://www.eplbigsix.com is focused on the Huge 6 clubs – United, Metropolis, Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham and Liverpool.