Champions League: Tottenham in pole position after draw against Real Madrid
Man City impress against Napoli and Liverpool make history in Maribor
Real Madrid 1 Tottenham Hotspur 1
Tottenham sit at the top of Group H after sharing the spoils with Real Madrid in a pulsating encounter at the Bernabeu.
The north London club and the reigning European champions are both on seven points at the halfway stage of the group matches, but Spurs are in pole position courtesy of having scored more away goals.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.
Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.
The one they scored on Tuesday - their first against Real Madrid in the Champions League - actually came off the boot of Madrid defender Raphael Varane as he tried to deal with Serge Aurier’s cross. But they all count and it required a penalty from Cristiano Ronaldo to draw the hosts level after Aurier went from hero to villain with a reckless challenge on Toni Kroos.
Harry Kane ceded nothing to the Portuguese legend over the 90 minutes, the England striker forcing Varane into putting the ball into his own net and then producing a fine diving save from Real keeper Keylor Navas in the second half.
Hugo Lloris pulled off an even more spectacular stop in the Tottenham goal, flicking out a leg to deny Karim Benzema at point-blank range. Moments later the Frenchman was at it again, this time leaping athletically to parry away a rasping, rising effort from Ronaldo.
“We’re happy,” said Kane, in response to a question about the result. “They are going to have chances but we played well and made it tough for them. A point at the Bernabeu, you would take that every day of the week. It shows how far we have come as a team.”
Funniest, thought-provoking editorial cartoons, delivered each weekday
Asked about Navas’s fingertip save that denied him a goal in the second half, Kane replied: “I thought I did everything right, I opened my body, I put the ball where I wanted to, and he made a very good save.”
Despite the disappointment of failing to add to the five goals he scored in the first two Champions League matches, Kane expressed his satisfaction with how the first three matches of the group stage have panned out.
“It puts us in a great position and we play them again in a fortnight,” he said. “It shows we can handle it at this level and that what it is all about.”
Tottenham’s evening got even better when they heard the scoreline from Cyprus, where hosts Apoel Nicosia held Borussia Dortmund to a 1-1 draw.
The result leaves both clubs on just one point, six fewer than Real and Tottenham, and so barring a shocking run of results in the next few weeks the north Londoners should qualify for the last 16.
In Tottenham’s only other visit to the Bernabeu in the Champions League they were thrashed 4-0 so it’s a measure of how far they’ve progressed in the six years since that they came close to nicking three points off the champions.
“The performance was fantastic,” said Spurs manager said Mauricio Pochettino. “I congratulate everyone because it was very good and of course our fans were fantastic, unbelievable.”
Declaring himself “proud” of his players, Pochettino added that the key to the result was their courage: “Being brave is so important. If you want to win and if you want to increase your level, learn and improve, it’s so important to be brave.”
Real coach Zinedine Zidane was less ebullient than his Tottenham counterpart, aware that the visitors are now in control of the group with the return fixture to come at Wembley in a fortnight.
“We aren’t happy as we were at home and we always want to win, but we had our chances,” said Zidane. “There were two great keepers and we also hit the post. They defended and worked well, it was a logical result.”
Impressive City beat Napoli
Goals from Raheem Sterling and Gabriel Jesus gave Manchester City a 2-1 victory over Serie A leaders Napoli.
The Italians have won all eight league games so far this season and City boss Pep Guardiola said they were “one of the best teams” he had ever faced.
He told the post-match press conference: “We won against an incredible team and to do that you have to make an incredible performance. If we hadn’t played at a very high level, we wouldn’t have won that game.
“They are one of the best teams I have ever faced, which is why I am so proud. It was perfect. It is impossible to beat them if you don’t make a good performance, and we did it, which is why I am so happy.
“I know before the game and now I know again, I am pretty sure they are one of the best teams in Europe at this moment.”
Seven up for record breakers Liverpool
Liverpool thrashed Maribor 7-0 in Slovenia - the biggest away victory in the Champions League by an English side.
Jurgen Klopp’s side now top Group E after goals from Roberto Firmino (two), Mohamed Salah (two), Philippe Coutinho, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Trent Alexander-Arnold.
Speaking about the record away score, Klopp said: “I was told about the record after the game and I didn’t know.
“The wonderful history of this club can feel like a backpack at times so it is nice to write our own good piece of the history. It will be difficult to beat that record. It is quite rare to win 7-0 but it showed we did unbelievably well.”
Last night’s Champions League results
Group E
- NK Maribor 0 Liverpool 7
- Spartak Moscow 5 Sevilla 1
Group F
- Feyenoord 1 Shakhtar Donetsk 2
- Manchester City 2 Napoli 1
Group G
- Monaco 1 Besiktas 2
- RB Leipzig 3 FC Porto 2
Group H
- Apoel Nicosia 1 Borussia Dortmund 1
- Real Madrid 1 Tottenham Hotspur 1
Tonight’s Champions League fixtures (7.45pm unless stated)
Group A
- Benfica vs. Manchester United
- CSKA Moscow vs. FC Basel
Group B
- Bayern Munich vs. Celtic
- RSC Anderlecht vs. Paris Saint Germain
Group C
- FK Qarabag vs. Atlético Madrid (5pm)
- Chelsea vs. Roma
Group D
- Barcelona vs. Olympiakos
- Juventus vs. Sporting Lisbon