Forget Harry Kane for just one moment. After this, the player Tottenham may have to keep out of Real Madrid’s clutches is Hugo Lloris.
Indeed, Real may look to take a job lot having seen the immense potential in this Spurs team. Harry Winks was excellent given the giant responsibility of marshalling midfield and Eric Dier was unexpectedly at home against a terrifying forward line in a back three deployed by Mauricio Pochettino.
The whole defence was superb, in fact, in withstanding the onslaught of the first team to retain the Champions League in the modern era. And even if Kane missed his best chance, one on one, he caused enough panic in Madrid’s back line to get partial credit for the Tottenham goal. Real will be worried about him at Wembley, have no doubt of that.
Yet it would all have come to nought were it not for a man-of-the-match performance by Lloris. Not that Tottenham were pinned back or overwhelmed. He wasn’t Jan Tomaszewski, saving with every part of his body. It wouldn’t have been 10-0 without him.
Yet two or three saves were outstanding — and one stop was exceptional, arguably the save of the season so far. They will remember him here after this — and sometimes, with Real, that can be dangerous. Madrid’s interest in David de Gea is long-standing, so we know they are in the market for a keeper.
And had it been an audition, it really couldn’t have gone better for Lloris, particularly in the second half when Madrid came out with their dander up having equalised just before half time. In a sustained spell, between the 55th and 65th minutes, Lloris made three saves, starting with the best of them all from Karim Benzema.
It wasn’t the happiest night for Madrid’s striker — he had three decent chances and should have scored from all of them, but at the start of the second half he must have felt his luck had changed.
Casemiro provided the cross and Benzema met it with a header that looked for all the world like the go-ahead goal. Somehow Lloris kept it out. Somehow he was quick and agile enough to block and snatch the roars from the throats of the Madridistas.
He did it again soon after when Winks had lost possession and Madrid fed Cristiano Ronaldo on the break. Lloris was magnificent in keeping his shot out — and again two minutes later when Ronaldo had sped past three.
At times of such intense pressure it is not like Madrid have found a new gear, more like they have been tossed the keys to a whole new car. A Lamborghini, perhaps — or Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes.
Yet Lloris stood tall through it all. He made several other fine stops from Isco and Ronaldo and held his nerve despite the frustrated whistles of the locals, taking time out of the game and allowing Pochettino’s team to maintain their composure while earning an incredibly gutsy point.
Late in the day, as Madrid sent in a corner, Lloris came from his line, rose imperiously and plucked the ball out of the air. He looked at home here, it has to be said.
As did Tottenham. Remarkably, considering their struggles in this competition last season, they lead Group H having played Madrid away. They also enjoy a six-point cushion over Borussia Dortmund, the club it was felt they would wrestle for second place.
A world of possibilities is opening up — including one in which they achieve the much-needed landmark result at Wembley, the one that changes the narrative at their temporary home.
Imagine if they defeated Real Madrid there. After this, it is not unthinkable. This was not Kane’s best performance, but he frightens Madrid. Maybe their attempts at flattery — interpreted as the seeds of an attempted courtship — have built up Kane’s prowess in the minds of Madrid’s defenders.
Tottenham went ahead because Madrid were frit by him. The goal came after 28 minutes, Tottenham growing into the game following an early scare when Ronaldo hit a post and Benzema squandered the rebound with the goal begging. Gradually, though, Tottenham gained composure and began to threaten.
Kane had a header well saved by Keylor Navas and Fernando Llorente had a shout for a penalty rejected, after his standing leg was taken by Casemiro. In front of the most vocal sector of the Bernabeu, it would have been a bold call by Polish referee Szymon Marciniak, and he wasn’t about to do anything silly like that.
So, Tottenham had to make their own luck and from their next foray into the box, they did. Serge Aurier made excellent ground on the right and whipped in a lovely ball which Kane tried to flick into Navas’s goal with his heel. He missed, but sufficiently worried Raphael Varane that the defender stabbed at a clearance and, in doing so, put the ball into his own net.
Sadly, as wonderful as Aurier is going forward, he can be a liability in defence. In the 42nd minute, his clumsy challenge gave referee Marciniak the chance to award the type of penalty that never spells controversy at the Bernabeu — a penalty to Real Madrid.
As the professionals say, Aurier went to ground too early and in a place that invited trouble. In doing so, he took Toni Kroos with him and Marciniak did not pass up the opportunity to be popular. He pointed to the spot and Ronaldo finished emphatically.
Having survived another onslaught, Tottenham could have nicked it. On 71 minutes, Llorente put Kane in with only Navas to beat, but the keeper diverted his shot round a post. Kane will have been disappointed not to score, but knowing what a goal would have done to his stock here, maybe for Spurs fans it was for the best.
It was still very good. When Madrid come to Wembley, they will know they are not just facing a Harry Kane team, but a group who continue to grow in stature.
