Tottenham cracks Real Madrid, qualifies for Champions League knockout phase

Tottenham Hotspur escaped the Group of Death, and then some.

On Wednesday, Tottenham laughed at those who thought Spurs would be unable to reach the Champions League knockout phase, defeating Real Madrid 3-1 at Wembley Stadium to qualify for the tournament’s last 16. It was a phenomenal night for the English club, which outplayed Los Blancos in all aspects of the game and could have scored more than three goals.

Dele Alli, who made his first appearance in the Champions League this season and endured a bumpy start to the campaign, overshadowed Harry Kane, who was returning from a hamstring problem. The English midfielder opened the scoring in the 27th minute, one-timing the ball into the back of the net after Nacho needlessly produced a throw-in, although the assistant referee failed to note that Kieran Trippier was in an offside position.

Alli then doubled Tottenham’s lead in the 56th minute, beating Casemiro twice and striking the ball past Kiko Casilla via a deflection off Sergio Ramos. Spurs’ third was produced by Christian Eriksen, while Cristiano Ronaldo scored what proved to be nothing more than a consolation goal for Madrid.

“It was a fantastic performance from us,” Alli said, according to the Guardian’s Jacob Steinberg. “We knew if we stuck to the game plan and stayed solid at the back, we would have a lot of chances. We spoke after the game at their place and couldn’t believe the space we had. The easy pass was sometimes too obvious at times. We don’t want to compete with these teams, we want to be winning.”

Tottenham’s last adventure in Europe – in which Spurs were eliminated from the Champions League in the group stage and subsequently tasted defeat to KAA Gent in the Europa League – now feels like a distant memory.