Spurs left needing a miracle

TOTTENHAM have become known as the comeback kings for their exploits in Europe and in the Premier League, but it would take a miracle for Harry Redknapp’s men to recover from this thrashing.

Jose Mourinho gave Redknapp a heartfelt hug at the final whistle, which may have been more out of pity than friendship, after his magical men from Madrid gave Spurs a masterclass in European football.

True, Tottenham’s cause was not helped by playing for 75 minutes with 10 men after the dismissal of Peter Crouch for two reckless challenges inside the opening quarter of an hour.

But Spurs were already behind, to the first of Emmanuel Adebayor’s two goals, and late flourishes from Angel di Maria and Cristiano Ronaldo confirmed Tottenham’s heaviest defeat in European football and marked Madrid as effectively through to a semi-final, probably against their bitter rivals Barcelona.

Redknapp tried to put a brave face on it afterwards, admitting his side have a chance in theory only of overturning such a four-goal lead in the return leg at White Hart Lane next week. “Obviously it is going to be really difficult, being 4-0 down to Real Madrid, and we have a mountain to climb,’’ he said.

“We knew we were going to be in for a difficult night, and to be down to 10 men after 15 minutes made it impossible really. We did fantastically well to keep it to 1-0 by half-time, and even at 2-0 I thought ‘let’s get out of here.’

“But the third goal was a fantastic strike and we just ran out of legs.’’

Mourinho was magnanimous in victory, and refused to believe qualification to the semi-finals is a formality. “They are a strong team, and know there is always a chance. English teams never give up. They fight to the end, and we still have a job to do in London.’’

Nevertheless it would take a monumental turnaround to keep Tottenham’s great European adventure alive.

What was a traumatic evening for them got off to a bad start when Aaron Lennon was pulled out of the line-up only minutes before kick-off. The England winger was ill and said he could not go on, and Redknapp had to send out Jermaine Jenas to play.

Within five minutes, Spurs were behind. Vedran Corluka did well to block a close range shot, conceding a corner in the process. When Mesut Ozil swung the ball in Adebayor put in a firm downward header, Heurelho Gomes got a hand to the ball but he succeeded only in guiding it through the legs of Luka Modric and over the line.

Conceding an early goal was not a disaster, but what happened next was. Crouch had already been booked in the eighth minute for sliding in on Sergio Ramos, so it was inexplicable when he did the same on Marcelo seven minutes later. German referee Felix Brych had no hesitation in reaching for his yellow card, followed swiftly by red.

That left Spurs with an uphill task, and not surprisingly they went into damage limitation mode. Rafael van der Vaart was the lone striker for the remainder of the half, and Jermain Defoe replaced him at half-time. But apart from the odd burst by Gareth Bale, who looked far from fully fit, Spurs were on the back foot. Madrid naturally had the lion’s share of possession and created more chances, Adebayor went close to a second goal long before he headed in Marcelo’s cross 12 minutes into the second half.

The Togolese striker had scored eight goals in nine games against Spurs for Arsenal, and was only denied a hat-trick here by a tip-over from Gomes.

Tottenham’s 10 men started to look heavy-legged but were still in the tie, before disaster — in the form of Di Maria — struck. When Gomes could only parry a fierce shot from Ozil, the ball was worked out to Di Maria, who cut in from the right and sent a left-footed shot screaming past the keeper into the far corner of goal.

It then got even better for Madrid. Ronaldo had not been having the greatest of nights, but when substitute Kaka chipped the ball across to the right, he hit a perfect volley into the far corner, although again Gomes could have done better as the ball squirmed under his body.

Tottenham’s large and noisy contingent of fans refused to stop singing, but they must know the fat lady will be soon accompanying them — signalling the end of their European adventure.

Subs for Real Madrid: Diarra for Khedira 60, Higuain for Adebayor 74, Kaka for Di Maria 77

Subs for Tottenham: Defoe for Van der Vaart 46, Bassong for Corluka 79

Referee: Felix Brych (Germany)