LONDON, ENGLAND - NOVEMBER 01: Mauricio Pochettino, Manager of Tottenham Hotspur and Zinedine Zidane, Manager of Real Madrid shake hands following the game at the UEFA Champions League group H match between Tottenham Hotspur and Real Madrid at Wembley Stadium on November 1, 2017 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
Tottenham smash Real Madrid: Glorious player ratings for Spurs
LONDON, ENGLAND – NOVEMBER 01: Mauricio Pochettino, Manager of Tottenham Hotspur and Zinedine Zidane, Manager of Real Madrid shake hands following the game at the UEFA Champions League group H match between Tottenham Hotspur and Real Madrid at Wembley Stadium on November 1, 2017 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
Tottenham played Real Madrid off the pitch
This may seem strange to say, but Tottenham have the right to feel a little disappointed about the final scoreline of their 3-1 victory over Real Madrid. Spurs could have easily beaten the La Liga giants by a more decisive margin.
Something tells me Mauricio Pochettino won’t be concerned with the final tally. The Argentine gaffer will be pleased that his squad played so well in such a massive fixture. Real Madrid are, after all, the defending champions of Europe.
Zinedine Zidane’s squad certainly didn’t look like it at Wembley. Instead, Tottenham grabbed hold of the match in the opening moments and never really looked back. Cristiano Ronaldo’s goal late in the second half likely made more than a few Spurs fans nervous, but the squad didn’t show it.
As you might guess, the player ratings for this match are going to be pretty flattering for Spurs. Read on to discover which of Pochettino’s men really stood out in the massive defeat over Real Madrid.
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<h2>Davinson Sanchez-8</h2>
<p>It was great to see Sanchez back into the Spurs starting XI. He’d missed the last two matches, but his presence against Real Madrid was greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>Time and time again he managed to make crucial challenges to keep Zidane’s attack at bay. It wasn’t a stylish outing per se, but it was a very effective shift for the talented Colombian defender.</p>
<h2><em>Jan Vertonghen-7.5</em></h2>
<p>I saw some chatter on social media touting Vertonghen as the Man of the Match but I didn’t quite see it that way. He was good, but it wasn’t his best performance in a Spurs shirt.</p>
<p>Defensively, he deserves a ton of credit for keeping Cristiano Ronaldo quiet. The world-class attacker had no success against the sturdy Belgian defender. Vertonghen only gets his performance knocked down a bit for being caught out of position a few times. Ben Davies needed a bit more support than he got from Vertonghen.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background: #0" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://playingfor90.com/2017/11/02/tottenham-smash-real-madrid-glorious-player-ratings-spurs/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Wingbacks </a>
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<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:590px;">LONDON, ENGLAND – NOVEMBER 01: Kieran Trippier of Tottenham Hotspur and Marcelo of Real Madrid battle for the ball during the UEFA Champions League group H match between Tottenham Hotspur and Real Madrid at Wembley Stadium on November 1, 2017 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images)</p>
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<h2><em>Kieran Trippier-8.5</em></h2>
<p>Full credit to Trippier for making my pre-match concerns look foolish. I thought his lack of pace made him a very poor wingback to dispatch against Real Madrid’s attack. Instead, he helped Spurs dominate this match with his skill on the ball.</p>
<p>Real Madrid did start to go at Trippier late in the match, but by the time they started it was already too late. The English international had punished them with quite a few dangerous crosses into the box. In the end, he was only able to notch one assist, but he created tons of scoring opportunities for his attack.</p>
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<h2><em>Ben Davies-6.5</em></h2>
<p>The Welsh left back might have been the weak link for Spurs on the afternoon. Real Madrid clearly targeted him from the opening whistle and they found some success down his flank. Fortunately, he held up defensively just enough to keep it comfortable for Pochettino’s squad.</p>
<p>In fairness, he did a much better job in this fixture of keeping Real Madrid quiet than Jan Vertonghen did at Real Madrid. He was caught out several times, but for the most part he played a smart match. Davies isn’t ever going to be a world-class player, but he put in another solid shift in this match.</p>
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<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:590px;">LONDON, ENGLAND – NOVEMBER 01: Eric Dier of Tottenham Hotspur and Marcelo of Real Madrid battle for the ball during the UEFA Champions League group H match between Tottenham Hotspur and Real Madrid at Wembley Stadium on November 1, 2017 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images)</p>
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<h2>Eric Dier-8</h2>
<p>No matter whether you were watching him in the midfield or in the middle of Pochettino’s defence, this was one of Dier’s best outings of the season. In fact, for me, it’s the best he’s looked for months.</p>
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<p>Pochettino will certainly hope this is a harbinger of good things to come from Dier. He was everywhere in this match. The Englishman tallied countless blocks and interceptions that prevented Real Madrid from breaking through on goal. If anyone deserves credit for Spurs’ stingy defense in this one, it’s Eric Dier.</p>
<h2><em>Harry Winks-6</em></h2>
<p>Winks is a very talented player who has a bright future at Tottenham but he was out of his depth in this match. There’s no shame in losing out to Real Madrid’s cavalcade of stars in the midfield, but that doesn’t mean it didn’t happen.</p>
<p>It’s not that he was awful, but he did give the ball away a bit too much for my liking. He played his heart out, but that isn’t enough in a fixture like this. Spurs were fortunate that Winks’ struggles in the middle of the pitch didn’t really cost them.</p>
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<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:590px;">LONDON, ENGLAND – NOVEMBER 01: Dele Alli celebrates scoring his side’s first goal with Kieran Trippier of Tottenham Hotspur during the UEFA Champions League group H match between Tottenham Hotspur and Real Madrid at Wembley Stadium on November 1, 2017 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images)</p>
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<h2>Dele Alli-9.5</h2>
<p>It’s safe to say that Dele really missed Champions League football. He was scintillating in his first opportunity to play on Europe’s biggest stage this season. The only blemish on his performance was failing to secure a hat trick via a free header in the second half.</p><div class="widget fs_ads"> <div class="fs_ad_widget-ad" style="margin:0 auto; width: 300px;"> <div class="fs-ll-ad" data-ad-type="minutemedia_slideshow_inline_300x250__desktop__tablet" data-vendor="minutemedia">
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<p>Otherwise he was simply spectacular. He ripped Real Madrid apart for Tottenham’s first two goals and kept Zidane’s defence off-balance for the entire match. It’s safe to say that Sergio Ramos won’t want to see Dele anytime soon.</p>
<h2><em>Christian Eriksen-8</em></h2>
<p>Lost a little bit in Dele’s blaze of glory was a really good performance from Eriksen. He wasn’t his squad’s most dangerous player going forward, but he kept popping up in dangerous places on the field.</p>
<p>He also was cool as can be when he slotted home Tottenham’s third goal. It turned out that Spurs didn’t necessarily need that goal, but it made things a lot more comfortable. Eriksen bounced back very nicely from a very weak outing against Manchester United last weekend.</p>
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<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:590px;">LONDON, ENGLAND – NOVEMBER 01: Harry Kane in discussion with Mauricio Pochettino, Manager of Tottenham Hotspur during the UEFA Champions League group H match between Tottenham Hotspur and Real Madrid at Wembley Stadium on November 1, 2017 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)</p>
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<h2>Harry Kane-8</h2>
<p>Tottenham’s best striker didn’t find the back of the net, but he did create a valuable assist for his club. Ultimately, Kane put pressure on Real Madrid for the entirety of his time on the pitch.</p>
<p>It was his work ethic that allowed Dele Alli to get so much space. More specifically, his hard running earned Spurs the throw that preceded their first goal. That’s just one of the things that makes Kane one of the best players in Europe. It wasn’t his best match in a Spurs kit, but it was plenty good enough to earn his side a massive three points.</p>
<h2>Hugo Lloris-7</h2>
<p>Lloris didn’t have any chance to stop Ronaldo’s goal. Otherwise, he didn’t have a ton to do. On the plus side, he did gut out the entire match after suffering some sort of leg injury.</p>
<h2><em>Moussa Sissoko-6</em></h2>
<p>Sissoko came on early in relief of Alderweireld, and didn’t do much of note. Depending on your point of view, that can be interpreted as a plus or minus for Spurs.</p>
<h2><em>Mousa Dembele-6</em></h2>
<p>I’m tempted to give Dembele higher marks for trying to break Sergio Ramos’ leg but that seems a bit mean. He does, however, deserve credit for helping to tilt the balance of power towards Spurs in the midfield.</p>
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