it’s… Tottenham!
March 18, 2011
Our rival in the quarterfinals of the Champions League is Tottenham! We were the first team to be drawn, and we’ll be matching up against Rafa van der Vaart and his team! Madrid will play the first match at home, and could meet in the semifinals (Madrid will play the first match at home for that as well). It looks like Madrid was represented by Miguel Pardeza and Emilio Butragueño. Figo was also there as Inter Milan’s rep.
P.S. – What’s with the excessive small talk and superfluous crap before the draw?
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*lol* They were quick today!
What can I say? I’m fine with Tottenham! 🙂
Have we ever faced Tottenham before?
The Real Madrid website says that they met back in 1985. http://www.realmadrid.com/cs/Satellite/en/1330049330283/noticia/Noticia/Firist_clash_with_Tottenham_Hotspur_in_the_European_Cup.htm
Hmm, Spurs will be an interesting match up. I have a very good friend who is a spurs fan so we will not be on speaking terms come mid April 🙂 Just glad we did not draw Barca – no one needed another RM/Barca game in mid april. Hope Rafa gets a warm reception from the Bernabeu faithful.
and if we’re really lucky Shaktar Donetsk will beat Barca so Madrid won’t have to play them in the Semis. 😉 Not that we CAN’T beat Barca but playing them more than once in a month is too much already. I don’t know if my heart can take the additional stress. lol
But I will say that imo the team has improved a lot since El Classico. The team has definitely had time to get used to each other a lot more over the season and of course Benzema’s in a lot better form. Barca already had that synergy down from jump. Even the addition of Villa didn’t affect them too much because Villa was used to playing with many of them from the National Team.
Anyway, was happy to hear that we drew Tottenham. I was hoping for either them or Chelsea.
In my opinion, Spurs – normal opponent !
Rafa VDV is back home))))
Home? He had a very bad time here!!!
Not according to Rafa himself.
WOW this is hysterical..really can’t wait for april..with 3 exciting encounters in 3 different occasions if we pass spurs.. 😉
Eeeeekkkk. Tottenham may not be as powerhouse as the other teams are but we can never get too confident. We never know in football. One game at a time. 🙂 Hoping and praying for a huge huge win for Madrid!!! 🙂 Believe.
i’ll take the spurs! very excited for our match up, and even though i dislike both teams, the chelsea v man utd match up is going to be a great one too
I think it will be two great games. We and Tottenham play really offensive football, so i belive that it will be many goals in those two games, and we most watch out for Bale!
True, Bale is a great player. But maybe he won’t be 100% by game time. I also hope Rednapp plays Crouchie. He just doesn’t impress me much and could be a “weak link” for Spurs.
wow… We and Barca both got it easy… They got Shaktar lol! Imagine if they actually lose…
Shaktar really isn’t that easy – they haven’t lost in over 50 games at home (in fact I don’t think they’ve ever lost since moving to their new stadium), and they were top of their Group. I think there’s a tendency to write them off because they’re lesser known due to being in Eastern Europe.
Shakhtar have never, ever lost at home. Their stadium is only two years old, true – but that is not a record anyone wants to mess with. (And that is cold comfort for us when we play them – Mou’s Bernabeu record or their record – one of them will probably have to give)
Shakhtar also beat Barcelona at the Camp Nou previously. It was a depleted team, true, but still – rather impressive of them.
They are a physical, fast, spirited, fearless team that is many time-zones away. It could be quite a challenge.
Thank goodness. I don’t think I would’ve been able to handle four Classicos in a month. That would’ve been too stressful.
http://dontaskmetosmile.wordpress.com
Four?
Ignore my post! I totally forgot there are 2 CL games.
God, this would have been… weird.
Assuming we go through to the semi finals and Barcelona does the same we’ll have a match schedule looking like this;
5.4. Real Madrid – Tottenham
10.4 Athletic Bilbao – Real Madrid
12.4 Tottenham- Real Madrid
17.4 Real Madrid – Barcelona
20.4 Real Madrid – Barcelona (CDR final)
24.4 Valencia – Real Madrid
27.4. Real Madrid – Barcelona *
4.5. Barcelona – Real Madrid *
8.5. Sevilla – Real Madrid
So 4 classicos in the span of 2 weeks. Worst case scenario, the team will get plenty of experience to crack the “Barcelona code”
I think we should be happy with Tottenham.. it could have been worse 😉 Plus we get to see Rafa in the Bernabeu again 😀
But if we win and Barcelona wins against Sjaktar, we’ll face each other in the semifinal.. I’m a bit scared
I was glad that we were in the first pair to be drawn, the beginning of the draw ceremony already seemed endless enough. And all those jokes about balls, wth 😛
Not too happy about the semi finals draw, but do we even dare to look that far?
I know Una, right? I’m thinking…”get on with it already” oy!
I was actually hoping for Tottenham or Chelsea so it worked out well. Although, was it really necessary to draw Barca in the same bracket with Madrid for the semis?!
I would have loved a Barca-Madrid final (knock on wood!) in Wembley just to stick it in the English media “but La Liga is a joke” face XD
Una, I was wondering, how many hits do you have per day?
I think Tottenham is a good opponent!! Isn’t their first time playing cuartos in UCL? Any way i look forward for the semi-finals it’s going to be an interesting one =) #HalaMadrid!!!
As an Arsenal fan, I hope Real Madrid knocks the stuffing out of them en route to the semi-finals. That way it can end this ridiculous gloating that has been going on amongst their supporters about how they’re still in the Champions’ League and we’re not!!
Tottenham pose a small problem with speed up front. If Gareth Bale is totally up to match fitness, he is wicked fast up the left side and that may be a small stumbling block for Serhio to deal with. And with Rafa’s craft, the centerbacks will be tested. Hotspur are very strong and creative all through the midfield. It’s a team that can afford to sit Niko Kranjcar, and he is world class, so don’t think that this will be a walk-over. And that giant beanpole, Crouchy, with his ball-magnet head will give SanIker a headache, if he plays.
And don’t pick on Shaktar. They are a very good team. Barca will have to be on their twinkly little toes. The tiki-taka should prove them thru, simply due to the fact that Arsenal handily beat Shaktar 5-1 with a similar style.
And then the real fun begins… a month and a half of Classicos… aaaaaggggghhhhhh!!!
Yes, Bale’s pace is lightening fast but I am positive Mou will make adjustments so that “help is going on” for Sergio. Jesus Navas is no turtle either and they did a good job of containing him. Also you have to respect the speed of Ozi, DiMaria, Cris & Marcelo. Any one of them will be able to help close him down.
As for Crouchy, he seems to be hit or miss (no pun intended) whenever I’ve seen him play. Sometimes he seems to play really well and others, he seems to hurt them more than help them. With that height, I’d expect him to dominate in the box but his downside is…he’s a beanpole. A good defender will be able to use their body/strength to keep him from getting in a good scoring position.
I can’t see it being a walk in the park for Madrid but Madrid has a very good chance of winning, imo.
I was really hoping for Chelsea. Or even Inter, since Mou has coached most of the players and would have a good idea of how to play against them. I have to say, this draw made me so sad! Besides Madrid, my second favorite team in this tournament is Tottenham. But yes, at least we will get to see Rafa again! And yes, it could be worse in terms of team strength.
I guarantee you that Mou will be/has been watching recording after recording of Tottenham’s games. Both in the CL & the EPL. This is normal for any coach to do. And I have no doubt that Mou and the players watch these games together and strategize before every game they play. This game will be no different.
Mou would probably be doing the same amount of planning regardless of which team Madrid had to play. Even though he’s coached some of the players in the past, their role on the team most likely will be quite different now with a new coach and different players thrown into the mix.
guys,
what’s wrong with you?
if we pass the spurs and barca pass shakhtar, we will be looking to other two classicos in the semi-final.
and that’s what will happen.
“what’s wrong with you?”
que?
The gooner within me is so so so happy!! I can’t wait to see this game, it should be a good one (hopefully RM comes out winning)
It’s the team I want to face. (It’s not the easier, but in Schalke 04 is Raul, and I don’t want him to face Real Madrid… I think it would be a bit painful). I hope they will be two great matches and Real Madrid can pass to semi-final. I wish that “La décima” is coming ^_^
the hugs in the greeting line/pregame handshake would have the entire Bernabeu in tears.
ugh Totthemham?? Daaamn!! :S Its not gonna be easy but I believe in our team. Its gonna be an epic quarter final for Madrid.