A lesson in White Hart pain

ITALIANS are miserly with their player ratings; 7.5 out of 10 is usually the top mark. But after Gareth Bale’s second spectacular showing against the European champions, they may have to rewrite the rankings.

“An English Lesson” was the headline in the Gazzetta dello Sport, which awarded the Tottenham winger 8.5, an honour usually reserved for Lionel Messi at his best.

“Devastating: what else describes him? Not just one extra gear, but three of them. This time he didn’t score, but made others score: the complete article, a force of nature”.

“Bale — The Inter Nightmare” declared Il Quotidiano, which described him as both a hurricane and a tractor, which may explain why Inter right back Maicon seemed so confused.

Maicon and Rafa Benitez shared the blame for the debacle, and for the Brazilian — normally so assured in both defence and attack — it was agreed as his worst ever performance.

Italy’s other main sports daily, the Corriere, was even more critical of a player usually considered the best right back in the world: “Bale is a nightmare who over the two matches laid bare Maicon’s defensive limitations.”

That may have been partly down to a nagging knee injury, but no one was using that as an excuse to doubt Bale’s potential to become Europe’s best.

“Inter crashed in a thousand pieces, like a precious Ming vase falling from the top shelf in an elegant drawing room,” wrote Paolo Brusorio for the Turin paper La Stampa. “And the second half was even worse. The reason — Gareth Bale. Never seen one like him — and from the way Tottenham dismembered Inter with his strength and speed, Maicon can’t have either. The two goals conceded to the same move are little compared to the devastation wrought by a youngster who from this night on will be the most sought after in Europe.”

“Inter have been tracking him,” said the Corriere, “but for the time being he seems destined to stay in London. He’s virtually half the Tottenham team. He did as he pleased, creating two goals, which might have been three, and causing constant problems.”

Tottenham’s hunger was the key for Gazzetta reporter Alberto Cerrutti, who warned that the manner of the defeat was a serious alarm bell for Inter, both in Europe and at home.

This was the match chosen for Sky’s first 3D broadcast in Italy, and for Alessandro de Calo there were also three dimensions to Tottenham’s English Lesson: “Inter don’t have replacements who measure up; it’s hard playing without midfielders who think — and Bale is from a different planet.”