Spurs blogger Jack McInroy writes about his team's remarkable journey to the Europan promised land in 2010-11, in a piece exclusive to ITV.com.
When Peter Crouch headed the winner against Manchester City almost a year ago in what was essentially a play-off for fourth place, Spurs fans finally got a break after a couple of purgatorial decades. Since the 1991 FA Cup triumph, which I’d been too young to appreciate, even the false dawns weren’t particularly convincing - and the ‘glory, glory days’ were very much consigned to the history books.
The Champions League is the promised land. In Europe’s premier club competition you rub shoulders with the greatest players in the world and visit the best stadiums. It has lived up to every inch of its glamorous billing.
Any doubts over Tottenham’s ability to compete at the top level were emphatically answered. Aside from a disastrous opening half hour against Young Boys (partly down to an artificial pitch and dubious play by Sebastien Bassong, rather than being out of our depth), Spurs have excelled. The tricky qualifier was duly won and the group stage beckoned.
The addition of Rafael van der Vaart provided a touch of class (and goals), while the long-term losses of Ledley King, Michael Dawson, Jonathan Woodgate and Jermain Defoe had little affect on a team in ascendancy. Continental defences didn’t know how to deal with Crouch and in Luka Modric Spurs had a playmaker as good as anyone outside Barcelona.
We dared to dream
A score draw against Werder Bremen in Germany and a big win against Dutch Champions Twente followed. Then came the double-header against Inter. Gareth Bale’s second half hat trick at the San Siro showed the world what he was capable of, although Rafael Benitez and Maicon failed to take note and the young Welshman put in another superb performance against them at White Hart Lane. With that 3-1 win, a shockingly comfortable victory over the European Champions, I got a brief glimpse into what it must be like to support a genuinely massive club like Manchester United or Barcelona.
Despite winning the group we were drawn against Serie A leaders AC Milan and won at the San Siro,1-0. But it wasn’t a swashbuckling, free-scoring football characteristic of Harry Redknapp and his team. It was an organised performance, with combative midfielder Sandro, a player who wasn’t even included in the squad for the group stages, emerging as an unlikely hero. We could see the team maturing before our eyes.
With a kind draw, the final at Wembley in May looked a real possibility. ‘Spurs are on their way to Wembley’; ‘It’s lucky for Spurs when the year ends in one’. With Manchester City and Chelsea tightening their grip on third and fourth place it was arguable that qualifying for the competition as champions was a more likely route than doing it through the Premier League. We dared to dream.
Which takes us up to last Tuesday. After Crouch’s red card in Madrid, any hopes of getting a positive result at the Bernabeu faded fast. The focus is often on the supremely talented Cristiano Ronaldo, but Real Madrid are a team packed with talent. The defence is rock solid (the goal keeper and the right-back are World Cup winners) and is protected by a midfield trio of Xabi Alonso, Sami Khedira and Mesut Özil. Add to that the fact that Jose Mourinho, a serial winner, is in charge and the task of overturning a four-goal deficit is Herculean. Unless Spurs can match Barcelona’s 5-0 winning scoreline from last November’s Clasico, a performance ranked as one of the greatest of all time, the Champions League adventure ends tonight. It’s the last time we’ll hear the stirring Champions League aria, the last time the whole continent pays attention to events at White Hart Lane.
For me personally the abiding memory is the win over Inter at the Lane. Not just facing the big boys, giving a decent account of ourselves, but winning! I stood in the Park Lane end, the noise deafening, hugging strangers, and for the first time singing ‘Tottenham are the greatest team the world has ever seen’ without embarrassment. I’m sure there are people lining up to point out that we haven’t won anything, but playing in the Champions League is its own prize.
How can we go back to the Europa League after this?
Check out Jack's Tottenham blog, and follow him on Twitter
Tottenham v Real Madrid is live on ITV1, ITV1 HD and ITV.com on Wednesday 13 April, from 7.30pm. Countdown to Kick-off is on ITV4 from 7pm.