Incredible as it began, it finished in a historic and incredible Gareth Bale hat-trick. Champions, Inter Milan of Italy hosted rookies, Tottenham Hotspur of the Barclays English Premier League at the famous San Siro Stadium. As Murphy Law would have it, everything that can go wrong at any match actually went wrong for Spurs as they suffered a first minute goal, conceded an early penalty that earned goalkeeper Gomes a red card and a conversion by Samuel Eto'o in the 11th minute. It was 3-0 by the 14th minute and with 10 men and less than 35 % possession, the first ever English team to win the European Cup were down and out when Eto'o scored the 4th after just 35 minutes.
Just as it started with the Eto'o show, Gareth Bale was a gear up with an incredible hat-trick of two mirror goal of top drawer quality and sheer determination that you will not see anywhere in a long time. The Bale show started in the 52nd minute before it lulled for the entire half, In injury time, Bale accelerated from the centre line on the left channel, running the entire length of the pitch to blast a sizzling hot shot below the body of sprawling Brazilian goalkeeper Julio Cesar, exactly the way he scored the first goal, step for step and stride for stride in injury time. Aaron Lennon was set on his bike as he attacked his marker to about the D-area before releasing Bale on his left, exactly on the spot he pulled the trigger for the first 2 goals. His classic precision took wind out of Inter and thank God, time ran out.
In a memorable match for the Bale performance in particular, as was the Manchester United come back against Bayern Munich in the year Samuel Kuffor cried several barrels of tears in 1999, the disastrous start by Spurs looked set to be historic in the other direction and for the wrong reasons. As any coach would tell his players at half-time, it was not about how Spurs began, but how they ended. In the dressing room, Harry Redknapp was at pains trying to solicit eye contact after heads dropped due to the defense that went to sleep early and were punished. Frankly, the officials were not even there for Spurs.
His words were definitely in the line of 'Let us take ourselves from the mess we just put ourselves in. Good teams will be judged from how they come out of trouble that how they ride the crest'. With 10 men against the champions who are 3rd in their league and have been perennial performers at the same level, and given the circumstances of the match, a final 4-0 score would have been respectable for the Englishmen. The 4-3 final results, which had both the fans and referees panicking in the dying seconds, underlines the battered team that has 2 key players in Rafael van der Vaart and Gomes suspended and top scorer Jermaine Defoe injured. Spurs showed the class that many didn't know possible, though a lose is a lose.
While this was a performance of character out of this world was happening in Italy, Manchester United were being even more average at Old Trafford against Bursaspor whom they beat 1-0. Nani scored a well taken goal for the valuable points. Barcelona also won 2-0 at home with Lionel Messi scoring a double. Rangers and Valencia drew 1-1 as did FC Twente and Werder Bremen. Shalke 04 beat Hopoel Tel Aviv of Israel 3-1. Lyon were 2-0 victors over Benfica in France.
What do you think went wrong for Spurs and what is your opinion of Gareth Bale?
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