Will Tottenham Bring Something Home From Madrid?

Tottenham’s efforts in the Champions League this season have been like night and day when compared to their offerings 12 months before. At present they are making this European competition lark look pretty simple as they took maximum points from their first two matches.

It’s six points from six for Mauricio Pochettino’s men as they have already picked up wins against Borussia Dortmund and APOEL Nicosia but now it is the biggest clash of them all as they prepare to go up against the winners of the last two editions of the competition, none other than Real Madrid.

But with two wins from two Tottenham arguably find themselves in an almost ideal position where they can travel to the Spanish capital with the pressure well and truly off. If we look at previous points tallies to get out of the group stages then the magic number is 10.

And with Tottenham already 60% of the way there then a trip to Madrid does not have the added impetus of having to get a result against Zinedine Zidane’s men. Of course it would be great for the North London outfit to get a result, not only to get even more points on the board but to really prove themselves in a test against the best that Europe has to offer.

At the same time though when the draw was made for the group stages pundits and fans alike would have looked at the ties against Real Madrid as ones that Tottenham would go into as the relative underdogs and by extension expectations would have been low for the side that finished runners up in the Premier League last season.

But could that low level of expectation actually do Tottenham a huge favour when they travel to the Santiago Bernabeu next week. I wouldn’t go as far as saying that Spurs have a free hit as such but in reality the result of this match does not matter all that much.

Obviously I’m not advocating that Tottenham lose 5-0 in Madrid as that will do no good for either confidence or momentum for the club but when you look at the way the group is set up and how the table currently stands then it is Dortmund away which is the real swing fixture.

Again if we take 10 points as the amount needed to get you over the line then Tottenham only need four points from as many matches. Nothing is a given in football but if you were to assume that a win against APOEL could be bagged in December then it then becomes a requirement of just one point from three.

Therefore you could make a case that even if Tottenham lose both games to Real Madrid then they only have to draw in Dortmund to make sure they pick up the necessary points so that they can reach the Round Of 16, a feat they failed to achieve last season.

Of course Tottenham could take the fact that they are paired with the competition holders this week and do what many would term as the unthinkable and get something from their clash with Los Blancos. The scenario for them would be even better if they were to pick up a draw on Tuesday.

That would then mean they would require a solitary win from the rest of the group stage and many have identified the tie against the Cypriot champions APOEL as where another welcome three points will be picked up and added to the account.

That would mean leaving qualification until the final Matchday but with the form that Harry Kane is in right now then who is to say that he will not score in a few days time and continue his already impressive start to Champions League proceedings during this campaign.

The England international has already scored five goals from just two matches and he will be looking at the tie against the defending La Liga champions as the perfect opportunity to not only test himself against the world’s best but to truly arrive on the biggest stage if he has not already done so.

If he can find the net for the third straight Champions League fixture then who knows what might come of it. The heart will want a win the head will hope for a draw. If the later comes good you can currently get 4/1 on that outcome with SkyBet but there are plenty more football betting tips on offer as we go into Tuesday’s blockbuster clash.

Can Spurs do the unthinkable, in all fairness they have absolutely nothing to lose. It is going to take some performance to do so but ultimately you cannot avoid the biggest teams in the competition forever and what better time to face one of them than next week. Let’s see how the dust settles on Tuesday night.