Redknapp makes Spurs dream

Edge of the seat stuff for 90mins. A shame Arsenal couldn't do the same yesteerday but Barca are a different beast to Milan!

Great result for us! Genuinely scared of Barca, though I would prefer to be knocked out by them than an English club.. tired of losing to United now.

Redknapps achievement is rightly acknowledged here, extraordinary. We nearly made it to the Champions League under Jol but I'm not sure he would have taken us this far. Just praying he doesn't take the England job as that would be devastating for Spurs.

Great result, well done Spurs. One of the most exciting teams in the Champions League, and I don't think that's an exaggeration.

The wrong team went through yesterday, Spurs' dull long ball tactics in the first leg followed by ultra-defensive anti-football in the 2nd. At least Arsenal went down honourably.

That said, Milan only have themselves to blame, I have little sympathy, Seedorf was absolutely incredible, I swear I didnt see a pass of his go astray. What a legend.

If I was a Spurs fan I dont think I'd get carried away - at the end of the day, it didnt seem it on paper but when the draw came out, Milan were probably one of the teams least suited to Spurs high pace game, Milan have made it clear the last few seasons that they can't handle teams in Europe with pace.

An exit in the Quarters awaits followed by no Champions league next season and a gradual fade to obscurity the way that Leeds United went I think. Spurs fans should enjoy what was most likely last night the peak of their season, a historical achievement.

Wonderful two-legged performance from Spurs.

Having attended both matches, at San Siro and White HOT Lane, I am very impressed. A favourable draw could lead us to fixtures no-one would have anticipated.

Funny to think, this time last year we were outsiders to gain 4th!!

Long may it continue, and may this result Spur us on to finish in top 4!!

A really great result for Spurs and it is amazing how much and how quickly they have improved since Harry arrived. But there were notes of caution last night. I felt we gave the ball away far too often. Do that against the likes of Barca and they will punish us. And Milan were very often first to the ball in midfield - if we'd had a bit more bite in midfield then maybe we wouldn't have needed such a defensive performance.

This, however, doesn't detract from a fantastic achievement. And with a fully fit Bale and Van der Vaart still to come back there's cause for cautious optimism about further progress. Mustn't forget though that the league is more important and we need to show that kind of commitment and passion away at Wigan on a cold, wet Tuesday as well.

SCL is showing no bitterness at all.

Spurs did well to ride a series of fouls at San Siro, as well as being denied a clear penalty....they did it the mature honourable way. No bookings, No aggression, just football.

But I guess, in the eyes of SCL having no shots in 90 mins at Nou Camp is far from 'anti-football' as you can get lol!

Bag of lemons for SCL...

Great performance by Spurs. I do believe Harry Redknapp is a great manager and obvoiusly has an eye for a player because I thought Sandro was superb. My only comment is this constant comment about Spurs being bottom of the league when Redknapp arrived, said in such terms as though they were a small team with awful players. Yes, it's a factual statement and Juande Ramos' era was just awful but Redknapp inhereted a squad that did not belong at the bottom of the league and has had money to spend. Yes, Harry is a great manager and should be the next England boss. A Champions League Quarter Final is the stuff of dreams for Spurs so he is rightly being congratulated.
Well done Spurs

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

Congratulations to Spurs in making it to the Top 8 of Europe this year.

4. At 07:29am on 10 Mar 2011, SCL wrote:
The wrong team went through yesterday, Spurs' dull long ball tactics in the first leg followed by ultra-defensive anti-football in the 2nd. At least Arsenal went down honourably.
-----------------------
Went down honorably?

Arsenal became the first team since 2003 to play a Champions League tie without taking a shot on or off target. I know they were playing possibly the greatest side of all time, but no shots in 90+ minutes is just embarrassing.

I take it SCL is a very bitter gooner. Pity his lot can't defend a lead when required to do so, that said i know Barca are probably the best team in the world but come on credit where it's due mate. If i were you i would go back to the library and think about the quadruple that Nasri was adamant you were going to win. Out of the FA cup on saturday as well.

Phil,

Interested in your thoughts on Zlatan Ibrahimovic. I've seen this guy in world cups and the champions league and he makes Peter Crouch look like Lionel Messi. Completely useless. I had every confidence Spurs would progress with him in the starting line up. To think Barcelona gave Inter 40 million and Samule Eto for this guy. I bet Mourinhio couldn't keep the smirk off his face.

Mightily impressed with this Sandro character. What a fantastic holding player Spurs have uncovered.

Congratulations Spurs! I haven't read the blog (or watched the game) but even as a gooner I can appreciate the hard work you're doing as a team new to the CL...Now if they would only stop reminding me every five seconds, lol

They've had some great nights & performances this season, and I think Gareth Bale has become my favourite footballer!

However Phil, like the rest of the media I think you are again being overly generous in your praise of Spurs this season. Their league form has been very patchy. At the moment it's looking unlikely that Spurs will qualify for the champions league again this season, so where would that leave them? I hope they make it but until Harry gets the consistency of top 4 and CL Q/Fs, he'll have made only limited progress and left a few good memories.

..and whilst Redknapp has brought some v exciting players to WHL, he continues to overlook replacing the weakest link in the team: Assou Ekotto, who is frankly a liability and will continue to cost them games.

Spurs fans may have enjoyed the match last night, which is fair enough.

It was incredibly dull however, and Milan were toothless over the two legs, so Spurs deserved to go through.

Reckon that's as far as they will get however.

Would spurs fans rather take a top four finish in england or a top four finish in europe???

SCL - you're drawing a target on your own head with that one!

Arsenal were not better than Barcelona and Tottenham were better than Milan across 120 mins. The better teams went through. It is fact and shouldn't need explanation. Say what you want about the difference in quality against the respective opposition but to suggest that Spurs dont deserve a spot in the last eight is absurd.

Pint of bitter?

Based on last night I'd say Spurs are probably the dullest European quarter finalists ever.

Let's hope the team that played Inter turns up for the next match otherwise the players might not be able to hear the ref's whistle over the sound of snoring in the crowd.

4. At 07:29am on 10 Mar 2011, SCL wrote:
The wrong team went through yesterday, Spurs' dull long ball tactics in the first leg followed by ultra-defensive anti-football in the 2nd. At least Arsenal went down honourably.
............................

Obviously honour means something different at Arsenal. The manger bleating like a pig with its throat cut .. jonourable!!! The poor man's keane tactics ... injustice etc etc. Time to stop being victims and being footballers. You got what you deserve the night before. If Bentner, who has the first touch of a beached whale, had scored do you think the result would have been deserved. Only myopic man would have and his deluded disciples

tigertiger - we'd rather have a top 4 finish in England as it gets us back into the CL next year. We need to get consistent CL football to attract the top players so the league is far more important this year.

Tigertiger, top4 league but....I don't trade, so I want to win the CL...and also have Anna Friel declare her undying love for me....please?

Can't help but totally agree with Isle of Manc (11), I'm a big admirer of Arsene & Arsenal - but the petty comments of their fans is ingenuous & wrong - 24% of possession & NO shot on goal & then to blame sending off of Van Persie - or was he suddenly going to actually see the Barca goal & score 4 goals? Tottenham have gone through & were nowhere near as embarassed as Arsenal.

Great result for the 3rd most attractive side in EPL (after Arsenal and Man Utd). Spurs have the best squad amongst all english teams (Man City is still not a 'team' yet).

Also anyone who thinks that Arsenal would have defeated Barca had it not been for RVP red card, needs to have his heads examined. You dont win matches playing with a 6-4-0 formation. Yes the red card was harsh but Arsenal had 0 shots on goal, 3 touches in Barca's penalty area, 200 passes as compared to some 700 odd Barca passes and 30% possesion. And dont forget barca had a midfielder and a wing back performing defensive duties.

Some ungracious remarks on here. The wrong team went through?

That doesn't happen I'm afraid. If Spurs played defensively every week you might have cause for complaint. They don't. This was a defiant performance by team evolving over the course of this season.

Spurs future isn't about this competition, this year. It is about establishing themselves as a force in the game over the next 5 years. The double edged sword of this result means their qualification for the competition next season becomes harder as they have yet more games to play. But this is a 'work in prgress' and by any standards the clubs improvement under HR is worthy of praise.

I'm no Spurs fan, or a Gooner, far from from it, but credit where it is due. This resurgence is down to HR's ability to deal with players. It's a man management thing. Making players believe they are winners, and then making them prove it week in and week out.

Well done Spurs, but please drop 3 points in your next home game!

As a Spur, I'm delighted and I don't think the views of SCL represent a typical Arsenal fan.

Saying that, as with Chelsea in 2009 and Arsenal on Tuesday, we can see how UEFA intervention can shatter the most promising of performances!

Proud of Spurs and disappointed for Arsenal...better the London teams progress than Manchester United or the overly protected Barcelona!

Well Done to Harry and the Boys. A fantastic effort and well deserved. Thought Gallas, Dawson, Sandro and Modric (as always) were incredible. It was all created by the monumental performance in the first leg. The calmness and focus showed in Milan must be one of the best displays by any team to have visited the San Siro. Think we have deserved the passage through to the next round have been waiting my whole life to see the Mighty Barcelona play at the Lane. COYS.

I would like to show my appreciation to TonySpurano. Spot on fella. If honorable is nil shots on target then you deserve a medal!! Think you need to look up the true meaning SCL?

I think that pint of bitter should be replaced by a glass of whine and a side order of sour grapes SCL !!

But it's what we have come to expect from gooner fans who just don't like the fact that we are catching them up fast. Great performance last night and shows H can play ugly as well as fast, exciting and attacking football, something "Le Prof" has singularly failed to do over the last 7 seasons.

Well done lads, we are all very proud this morning.

Well done to Spurs.. good result and a change in performance shows a versatility not usually associated with them.

Can we stop the sickly theme that Spurs are almost paupers and its a miracle that they have come so far in this short time. They are a team of international players and although well assembled they have spent some money on the squad.. I think a team of this calibre should be reaching this type of level on a much more regular basis.

Well done again though.

[quote]
4. At 07:29am on 10 Mar 2011, SCL wrote:
An exit in the Quarters awaits followed by no Champions league next season and a gradual fade to obscurity the way that Leeds United went I think. Spurs fans should enjoy what was most likely last night the peak of their season, a historical achievement.
[/quote]

I am a neutral and I agree with the above assessment.

SCL i'm not sure how anyone can use dull in the same sentence as Spurs seeing as Arsenals tactics the night before where very much 'Anti-Football' with your 6-4-0 formation and your skipper going mising on the night. In space of 2 weeks your quadruple that Nasri spoke about could become no competitions won.

On a positive note we did the job we had to do last night and now lets see who we get drawn against in the 1/4 finals knowing our luck it'll be barcelona but onwards we go and fear nobody.

4. At 07:29am on 10 Mar 2011, SCL wrote:
The wrong team went through yesterday, Spurs' dull long ball tactics in the first leg followed by ultra-defensive anti-football in the 2nd. At least Arsenal went down honourably.

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Since when did having 0 shots on or off target get classified as going down honourably? Arsenal were battered.

The people comparing Spurs to Leeds United are so laughable I'm not going to even comment further.

Last night was the first time I've seen Sandro play, and on that evidence he is shaping up to be almost as good a bargain as VDV (well, not quite, because that deal was practically a highway robbery) and perfectly counterbalances the first choice midfield. With the potential for a fully fit first team available soon, we can dare to dream of getting through the next round, because the team is able to raise its game to fantastic levels.

It does however, make me weep that they can keep out Milan over 2 legs and then ship 6 goals in a week to Wolves and Blackpool.

One final point, the year ends in one, so Spurs have to win something....

Congratulations to Spurs, well deserved over the 2 legs.

But i think that Spurs fans know that Milan are a spent force, they had no real attack over the 2 legs, they had a lot of ball last night but Spurs kept them at arms length untill they had to make a tackle. The real test will be in the next round. Having said that, i think if they avoid Barca or Madrid they should have a chance.

Well done anyway lads. Good luck.

Always a gooner lurking to drag the mood down possibly the most "cheated" team in the world i think every one of them tells me,
As for Spurs i think the two legs showed a different side to the all out attacking CL football they have shown so far this tournament and turned themselves into a dangerous entity in this years edition with some great defence and a great midfield display by Sandro who i thought was the best player on the pitch which is something special when you consider who was on the other team,
Good luck to Spurs for the QF and more importantly good luck next friday and pray you get shalke or shaktar!!
MUFC OK!!

Before I read the blog a quick thank you to Phil for balancing things up. I gave you a bit of grief a few weeks ago for focusing on Arsenal and barely mentioning Spurs result in Milan, nice to see you've balanced it out this time around. Now back to reading it!

Hoof the ball to Crouch to nod down, hoping someone has made the run into the box. Good luck Spurs! It gets a little trickier from here on in and that performance just isn't going to cut it.

It's inevitable that there will some ungracious remarks made by some which is disappointing as a fresh English side has reached the last 8, which demonstrates the strength of the EPL.
It's also odd that some should carp about holding onto to a lead plus ignore a momentous win at The San Siro.
Turn the clock back and this was the modus opernadi for Italian Clubs over many a decade.
Strangely AC Milan played last night like an English side (IMO).
How far Spurs progress now is a bonus if they can avoid Barca, then who knows.
Also the race for 4th place in the EPL still has 10 matches to go so to those ne'er-do-wells it's still a question of watching this space.
Winning the EPL is a marathon and not a sprint and Spurs last night showed that they can adapt well to different situations better than many have thought.
Perhaps their North London rivals might have fared better if they had held onto a lead no matter how boring the display might have seemed.

@24 I'm not sure what Man Utd games you've seen this season, but they are certainly not in the top two most atractive teams in the Prem to watch. Their ability to grind out results this year sees them clinging on to top spot, but even that seems to be slowly deserting them.

On to last night..well done Spurs on a hard-fought and well deserved win. While this Milan team isn't up there with some of their great sides, to be able to keep Pato, Ibrahimovic and Robinho fairly quiet for two games is some achievement. That being said, I still don't fancy Assou-Ekotto as a top class full back, and if long balls are going to be pumped forward for Crouch then he needs a second striker up with him for the knock-downs.

Schalke in the next round anyone?

Make no mistake, i'm mildly pleased for Spurs but for those that are understandibly getting a little over-excited, Milan absolutely bossed the game last night and Seedorf ran the show. A few instances of good defending and tough luck is all that kept them out. Admittedly that's all it needs sometimes but Spurs are going to have to do A LOT more if they're to progress further. Play like that against any of the bigger, younger, more skilled teams and you'll get hammered.

Not sure of anybody got a MOTM last night but if there was it should have been Seedorf and a top quality display from Sandro earning him a runner up medal. He was Spurs best player by a mile!

Well done to Harry and the team in what I thought was an absorbing two legs of European competition. The histrionics of the San Siro and the tension of last nights rearguard action. Spurs play football with a smile and not an arrogant scowl which makes it even more pleasing in this day and age.

As for some of the bitterness expressed in some of the posts above (SCL yours was masterful although you really do need to seek some help!) I have to point out that Spurs deserved their Champions league slot on last years performances. The divine right to Champions League that the 'big four' consider as exclusive to them has to be broken for the good of the game. To have finishing fourth every year as an ambition just so that you can make money the following year is shameful. Football is about glory and passion not about money - the spurs fans last night weren't ecstatic at the final whistle because we'd just banked a few million!!

I'm not just talking about winning the Champions League but being in the shoes of a Birmingham fan at Wembley a few weeks ago, a Blackpool fan when they beat us 4-1 a few days later, Reading and Crawley in the FA cup ...... some of you need to get off your lofty perch and realise what being a football fan is really about.

Well done Spurs, you throughly deserved to go through, please go on now and win the thing as you are the only decent English Club left in the comp.

wow @43

Haha #37, yeah because that's how we scored the goal in Milan wasn't it, or was it a tremendous breakaway involving a Sandro block, Modric flick, Lennon run and cool Crouch finish... First team in history to score 2 or more goals in each CL group match, oh yes we're completely one-dimensional! Last night wasn't our best attacking performance and yes we aimed at Crouch a little too much, but we did the damage in the first leg and did what we had to in this one to get through.

Onwards we go, not favourites to win it by any means but then were Liverpool and Porto the years they won it? Doesn't mean it can't happen.

And for any Arsenal fans feeling bitter and stating Milan are completely different to Barcelona. Yes you're right they are, that's why it was important to win your group!! Something which was lost on your team a few months ago and the reason why you ended up with Barca whilst we got Milan.

When will other supporters give Spurs the credit they are due for their performances in Europe this season?

When we smashed Inter (best team in Italy last season) at home all the focus was how they are not the same team without Mourinho, we now keep out AC (best team in Italy this season) over two legs and all the focus is on the fact the we defended. We have adapted our tactics across the whole campaign to get the results we needed and should be praised for doing so.

On the whole Leeds nonsense, maybe these people should have a look at Spurs' turnover and profit figures and think again!

Up the Spurs!

@43 - Really?

The photo of Gallas says it al: what a terribly bitter pill for Arsenal. As a Spurs supporter all my life, today I am thrilled, whatever happens next is a bonus.Man United have a tricky match against Marseille at home, ( 0-0 away is never a good result),unlike Spurs they have no away goal to count on so it will be a very nervous match and a forgone conclusion that they will qualify
As for the next round - well clearly we don't want Barcelona but the Germans look hard also.

Spurs had one chance in 2 games, took it and then parked the bus. Defending a one goal lead for 90 odd minutes - George Graham would be proud ! :-)

A team from by far the richest and biggest spending league in the world gets to the Quarter Finals. I think it is pretty much par for the course! Due to the huge commercial advanges the Premier League teams and Barcelona and Real Madrid have, you would always expect them to contest the latter stages.

That said, I thought Milan were the better team last night but they lacked the final ball or finish. Italian football has had the money sucked out of it and because of this Italian teams are finding it harder and harder to compete in Europe. There has been a lot of talk about Gareth Bale but I think Luca Modric is the key player for Spurs.

I think it has been a decent (although not outstanding) achievement by Spurs.

Superb performance by Spurs the thing they showed , which Arsenal are incapable of is changing their game to suit the situation. To call us boring because we successfully changed our tactics to win is ludicrous.

Spurs with only the exception of Barcelona were the most exciting team in the group stages. The first team ever to score at least two goals in each game. Arsenal on the other hand were an embarrassment to the Premiership. They only managed to scrape through what was definitely one of the easiest groups in the history of the CL. After Arsenal's awful group stages they got what they deserved, a game against the best team. In that game they were shocking, probably the worst performance by an English club in Europe ever. I thought the Arsenal fans would return to the rock the crawled out from until the beginning of next season, when as usual, they would be spouting about how they were going to win everything again.

Arsenal fans should show a bit of humility, especially after the disgraceful performance on Tuesday.

Haha keep fishing #49, you'll get a couple of bites but it won't change the fact Arsenal are out and probably on their way to another trophy-less season...

To the bitter goons...

How many champions league campaigns did it take you to progress from the group stages?

Oh, and thanks for Gallas!

Ps. On the plus side, your not tied to anything on Tuesday or Wednesday nights now!

4. At 07:29am on 10 Mar 2011, SCL wrote:
The wrong team went through yesterday, Spurs' dull long ball tactics in the first leg followed by ultra-defensive anti-football in the 2nd. At least Arsenal went down honourably.

-----------------------------------------------

Haha. This is why goonies are detested so much. Honourably? Give me a break. Arsenal TRIED to copy the Chelsea blueprint for defending against Barcelona but failed miserably. Mainly because Arsenal's defenders are sh***t.

Honourably. Haha. Where's the honour in having zero shots on goal in 90 mins.

Arsenal fan in peace.

Congratulations, Tottenham fans, you fully deserved in my opinion. Granted, yesterday's match wasn't vintage Tottenham but the match in the San Siro was class.

And trust me, if you get Barca in the next round, I'll be rooting for you guys.

Now, back to being depressed at being an Arsenal fan :'(

It's quite funny as a neutral watching Arsenal fans (who are upset because their team just can't win the big games) arguing with Spurs fans (who use their limited 'achievements' to taunt Arsenal fans who are used to having a team in the top 4 and in the latter stages of the CL!)

Another CL blog, another post describing Barca as "possibly the greatest side of all time". There's no denying they are a great team at the moment, but why do we have to assume that the team/person doing well right now is the "greatest of all time" when the evidence - as yet - isn't there to support it.

Is Tiger Woods the greatest golfer of all time? No, Jack Nicklaus is, and will be until someone gets 19 majors. Is this Barca team the greatest of all time? It's harder to put a measure on, but for me they aren't yet in the same league as Milan of the late 80s, not least because they haven't shown the same attacking brilliance and they play in a vastly less competitive league. Apart from Real, the only tough games they get all season are in the Champions League.

Last season they were outfought and out-thought by a decent but limited Inter team, this year - for all their possession - they were indebted to a very dodgy refereeing decision and Bendtner's poor touch for their journey into the quarter finals.

If they see off a top side 5-0 in the semis, win the final 4-0 and take their second European crown in three years I'll be prepared to concede they are up there with Van Basten's Milan. Otherwise, I have them down as the neatest passing team of all time, but not the best.

But where are the Ghosts?
Older supporters will remember the great addition to the atmosphere of the fans who dressed as ghosts on European nights in the 60's. Let's bring them back.

I though Tottenham played well last night. Milan had to go all out but Spurs had a good game and deserved their win.

Hopefully United can do their job next week.

Definitely showed ASrsenal how to defend and still create chances as well as the Gunners were absoluetly rubbish on Tuesday

Genuinely amazed at how Spurs have got through. Totally and comprehensively outplayed over the two legs. I am still having trouble digesting the "Harry outfoxed em" remark. Eh???? If by outfoxed you mean "were jammy" then fine. I don't recall seeing a luckier side in the champions league, except for the first year Man Utd won it, 1999 I think.

I'm not a Spurs fan or a Gooner. However, I have watched Spurs a lot on TV this season, including last night.

They are still a work in progress but with players like VDV and Sandro being acquired relatively cheaply by Harry and with generally attacking and entertaining displays they are making tremendous progress at a rate of knots. Sure, they still have deficiencies but Harry knows this as his comments indicate and he will address these as soon as he can, I am sure.

Last night was remarkable because Harry's team's weaknesses could easily have been exploited by an AC Milan team well equipped tactically to do so. However, Spurs dug in and showed they can scrap when they had to.

So, no carping from any other team's fans please. Well done Harry, well done all the players, well done Spurs. Believe in yourselves ... and who knows. Inter beat Barcelona last year with a tactical plan, Liverpool have just had a big win after a period in the doldrums ... confidence and belief can go a long way, sometimes all the way.

Good luck Spurs, be afraid of no-one. You don't have to be! On your day, you're a match for anyone, with even better times ahead.

Congratulations Spurs on holding Milan off, well done, you definitely deserve to go through.

It annoys me though how the British media seems so hellbent on avoiding Arsenal's misfortune with the RVP sending off.

Yes, we hadn't had a shot at goal all night, but it was pretty similar in the first game and we won. Our tactics were to tire them out and then hit them in the last 20 minutes. We only needed one goal to go through. So yes, if RVP had stayed on we would have had a great chance to go through. Would we have been the better side? Absolutely not. But tactics go a long way. We are usually the better side in the PL and regularly drop points to teams with hardly any possession.

I'm not bitter that Spurs have gone through. But those of you who say Arsenal wouldn't have stood a chance either way are the deluded ones. 2-1 in the first leg, with both goals coming late on proves it. You are wrong and we were robbed.

This morning I have no interest in Arsenal supporters comments, especially the bitter ones. Sandro 10/10

"Redknapp is often the first to damn himself with faint praise,"


For goodness sake why come off with this nonsense? Every single interview he gives is an application for the England job. If there is one thing he doesn't do it is hiding his light under a bushell.

I think the signing of Van Der Vaart could be spurs Cantona moment (unfortunately, for you spuds its not a two horse race anymore for the prem title).

Just watching the game (and others on MOTD), the players at spurs have a good level of technique and in todays game they also have speed of movement. Also Harry has a 'team' there with no billy big times, even Gallas keeps his mouth shut off the pitch.

Harry has got success from playing good football, so fair play to him.
AVFC fan in peace

62. At 09:12am on 10 Mar 2011, UptheArsenal wrote:

You are wrong and we were robbed.
---------------

Lol. Robbed. You dont know the meaning of robbed. Try our semi final against Barcelona in 2009. That was robbery. Not what you served up two days ago. That was one team setting up base in another team's half with their goalkeeper and defence sitting on deck chairs on the halfway line smoking cigars.

Shame we won't be seeing an Arsenal Spurs final at Wembley - that would have been awesome.

Gunners were unfortunate to come up against the best team in the world but you have to give credit to Spurs who managed to keep a clean sheet for 120 minutes against Robinho, Pato and Ibra.

Fingers crossed we draw Schalke in the next round and here's hoping Arsenal can beat the highly unpleasant Man Utd to the title.

@ #4 SCL

HAHA! what a bitter fan you are. 6-4-0, 0 shots on target, 0 shots off target, 109 passes to 724 passes & 25% possession is as honourable as joey barton on a saturday night out.

and after we knock you out of the FA cup saturday thatll be a toal of 0 trophies from Nasri's 4. HAHA.

Very well done spurs. you thoroughly deserved it over 2 legs. see you in the next round.

37. At 08:43am on 10 Mar 2011, plasticmanc wrote:
Hoof the ball to Crouch to nod down, hoping someone has made the run into the box. Good luck Spurs! It gets a little trickier from here on in and that performance just isn't going to cut it.
----------------------------------------

Just like Arsenal's performance on Tuesday cut it.

Maybe if you had played Bendtner up front and knocked some high balls to himn to knock down for others you may have relieved the defensive pressure and even gone through rather than play little backheels in your own 18 yard box

Remind me how successful was that in the Nou Camp on Tuesday night

@swintondude

"I don't recall seeing a luckier side in the champions league, except for the first year Man Utd won it, 1999 I think"

Presumably you only recall the final then, rather than the brilliant, high-risk attacking football of the knock-out stages.

Even in the final, being outplayed and then winning with two injury time goals could be called lucky - if it wasn't done by a team that had won a title doing the same thing against Sheffield Wednesday, and has since won several titles and cups doing the same thing on a regular basis. Once is luck, consistently is mental strength - which is as high a currency in football as skill and possession.

I'm no Man U fan, but credit where it's due.

five-star-reds.

I'd love to know how you classify a spent force. with only 3 outfield players over 30 I think you must be thinking of a different team. robinho, ibrahimovich, pato, spent force?

amazing the bitter that's sloshing around at this time in the morning.

They laughed and called us deluded last year when it was said spurs could finish top four. but they did

they said we'd never qualify for the group stages, but we did.

they said we'd finish bottom of the group

they said inter would wipe the floor with us, but spurs beat inter and topped their group.

they said we'd neve get past Milan but we have.

no they are saying spurs will get knocked out in the quarters before knowing who we face, oh and we won't finish top four.
don't they ever learn.

COYS
All hail sandro

MR Chelsea:
Lol. Robbed. You dont know the meaning of robbed. Try our semi final against Barcelona in 2009. That was robbery. Not what you served up two days ago. That was one team setting up base in another team's half with their goalkeeper and defence sitting on deck chairs on the halfway line smoking cigars.

LOL, you obviously didn't see the first leg where Barca completely utterly outplayed Chelsea and Chelsea camped out in their own half for an entire 90 minutes?! So terribly lucky! Granted, you played well in the home leg, but please don't use that tie to point out that we served up nothing (which is correct, obviously)

I wish Spurs' achievement wasn't constantly being assessed in the light of Arsenal's failure. What Spurs have achieved in the competition should stand alone from Arsenal's defeat and shouldn't need comparison to their exit to highlight how impressive it was.

Some of the derogatory comments on here are laughable though. Milan a spent force? They're top of Serie A, significantly ahead of the team that won the Champions League last year. No attacking threat? Outside of Spain I'm not sure there's a more dangerous front 3 than Pato, Robinho and Ibrahimovic. Spurs were boring? I'm sorry has the fact that we scored more goals in the group stages than anyone else suddenly changed?

It was an excellent achievement to get to the Champions League ahead of a team who spent (and continues to spend) considerably more than us, and as the run goes on the achievement gets greater and greater.

Roll on the draw next week and COYS!

Gunners were unfortunate to come up against the best team in the world but you have to give credit to Spurs who managed to keep a clean sheet for 120 minutes against Robinho, Pato and Ibra.

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Congratulations to Spurs on the result, I didn't think for one minute they wouldn't get through but it was closer than I thought it would be. Ibrahimovic showed yet again why he's massively overrated, same about Robinho and Pato continues to struggle in Europe. The man that looked dangerous for Milan was Seedorf, one of the best players of my generation.

Well done again for getting through (I can't imagine how angry and bitter gooners must be today) and I hope we'll join you in the next round next week.

#52 I don't think #49 is fishing. It is a performance typical of Georhe Graham's Arsenal teams, get a goal and then close the match out. I think he is actually being complimentary.

Shame Arsene Wenger can't learn from the George Graham book of 1-0 wins.

I'm a gooner and i think Spurs deserved it...yes Milan outplayed them last night - but the way to win in Europe is to defend well when you don't have the ball. Plus Spurs should have been a few goals to the good from the first leg.

As for the anti-Arsenal comments, well that is the nature of the beast....we'll be back in the CL next year.

And for the Arsenal fans bitter at Spurs achievements - If our manager hadn't been so arrogant and sent reserve teams to Shaktar and Braga, we would have won the group and been playing Roma...so perhaps instead of making the rest of us look silly we should check our own house is in order first. Yes RvP was unlucky and yes there were tactics to attack in the last 20 or so, but lets be hinest - we were awful and the better side went through - end of.

Oh, and I'm not one of the so-called bitter gooners everybody seems to be referring to! See my post at 55 :)

LOL, you obviously didn't see the first leg where Barca completely utterly outplayed Chelsea and Chelsea camped out in their own half for an entire 90 minutes?! So terribly lucky! Granted, you played well in the home leg, but please don't use that tie to point out that we served up nothing (which is correct, obviously)


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Haha. Come on mate. Lets not beat around the bush. We could let Barca have the ball because we were comfortable with our defence holding them off. Every one of our defenders would track their opposite man.

You on the other hand, Alves must have thought all his christmas's come at once with the amount of space he was afforded time and time again. Defence is your weak point isnt it? Your team isnt set up for defending. Its built on scoring or out outscoring the opposition.

It is exactly as said: Redknapp took Spurs from the bring to the Championship and made them european elite in two seasons. Spurs fans had the experience of both sides of the coin: a foreign, well paid manager destroying their team in months and another, very English, bringing them in heights they hadn't experienced before in just two seasons.

I feel Spurs need two full backs and one more quality striker in order to become a dominant force in Europe, assuming they keep their star players.

A lot was said about AC Milan. United fans knew from recent experience that the Italians are overtalked and Series A' has lost the flair it once had. When the 4th/5th team in the premiership takes out both two top Italian clubs, it says a lot about the quality of that league. It also says a lot of Spurs climbing on the 8 best teams, this season.

Spurs will earn a lot of money this season - everyone knows that. What people don't mention is that one-two more seasons like this and Spurs will start increasing their share in worldwide recognition, translated in expansion of their worldwide fan base/

Many congratulations and have a good draw to go even further.

Well played Spurs, the right team went through. As a Fulham fan I know the excitement an unexpected Euro run can bring! I'm rooting for you all the way to the final.

And Arsenal deserved to go out on Tues, anybody saying otherwise is deluded, an Arsenal fan, or most likely both.

@76, thank you mate, finally another well-reasoned, realistic Arsenal fan like myself! We went out against the far better team and suffered from our own profligacy and arrogance in the KO stages.
Anyway, we'll be back next season!

Some of the derogatory comments on here are laughable though. Milan a spent force? They're top of Serie A, significantly ahead of the team that won the Champions League last year. No attacking threat? Outside of Spain I'm not sure there's a more dangerous front 3 than Pato, Robinho and Ibrahimovic.

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To be fair, the fact that after Bayern Munich most likely knock Inter out next week they'll be no Italian teams left in Europe in either tournament shows the state of Italian football at the moment.

57. At 09:07am on 10 Mar 2011, Jake Hadlee wrote:
Another CL blog, another post describing Barca as "possibly the greatest side of all time". There's no denying they are a great team at the moment, but why do we have to assume that the team/person doing well right now is the "greatest of all time" when the evidence - as yet - isn't there to support it.

Is Tiger Woods the greatest golfer of all time? No, Jack Nicklaus is, and will be until someone gets 19 majors. Is this Barca team the greatest of all time? It's harder to put a measure on, but for me they aren't yet in the same league as Milan of the late 80s, not least because they haven't shown the same attacking brilliance and they play in a vastly less competitive league. Apart from Real, the only tough games they get all season are in the Champions League.

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I would say there are several teams better than the current Barca team: -

Real Madrid in the 1950's
Manchester United 1958 Busby Babes team
Manchetser United 1994 FA Cup team and 1999 treble winning team (bear in mind we never played the 1994 team in Europe at full strength due to UEFA changing regs on Welsh, Scottish and Irish players)
Liverpool early 1980s team
Milan mid-80s
Inter - 1960s
Real Madrid c2000-2004 - Galacticos era

These were great teams who had strong opposition domestically and in Europe which Barca don't

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

Haha. Come on mate. Lets not beat around the bush. We could let Barca have the ball because we were comfortable with our defence holding them off. Every one of our defenders would track their opposite man.

You on the other hand, Alves must have thought all his christmas's come at once with the amount of space he was afforded time and time again. Defence is your weak point isnt it? Your team isnt set up for defending. Its built on scoring or out outscoring the opposition.


Ohhhh come on pall! If you can honestly say that you were comfortable watching that match in the knowldegde that Chelsea would easily keep them at bay, then you're one cool cucumber! Chelsea were outplayed and lucky.
Don't get me wrong, we were horrible Tuesday and I wish we had Keown and Adams at the back to just whack the ball into the outerspace instead of trying to pass and trick their way out of their own half (see Cesc's backheel which led to the first BArca goal).

Anyway, back on topic... Congrats, Spurs! Credit where credit's due and this deserves a lot of credit

Well done Spurs, showed alot of bottle, AC Milan were dominant and i cant remember spurs having a clear cut chance but defended really well. Sandro was their MOTM.

Arsenal lost 4-3 to the best team in the world and could have snatched it late on had Bentdner matched his ability to his own hype. We didnt create anything on tuesday but had we went through would Wenger have been regarded as a tactical genuis just like Mourinho was last year despite them having had virtually no clear cut chances either?

I doubt any of the teams left in ther CL will run Barca as close as what Arsenal did.

Anyway to finish on a positive note, well done to spurs again...

plasticmanc wrote:

Hoof the ball to Crouch to nod down, hoping someone has made the run into the box. Good luck Spurs! It gets a little trickier from here on in and that performance just isn't going to cut it.

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yup, totally agree, we are so one dimensional. gareth bale didn't score an incredible hat trick in the san siro, we didnt pulverise inter at home, we didnt beat milan in the first leg with brilliant counter attacking football, and we werent one of, in not the top, scorers in this year's champions legaue. we are just so one dimensional.

Ohhhh come on pall! If you can honestly say that you were comfortable watching that match in the knowldegde that Chelsea would easily keep them at bay, then you're one cool cucumber! Chelsea were outplayed and lucky.
Don't get me wrong, we were horrible Tuesday and I wish we had Keown and Adams at the back to just whack the ball into the outerspace instead of trying to pass and trick their way out of their own half (see Cesc's backheel which led to the first BArca goal).

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Haha. You're right. I wasnt sitting back thinking. "We got them right where we want them" but! our defence is one of our strengths. With a bit of luck we could shut them out which we did. Our luck ran out in the home leg though.

Great result, well done Spurs. HR deserves all the plaudits he is getting. Now beat Arsenal in the league... :)

@83

A united fan obviously?

your 1999 team has to go down as one of the most fortunate of the modern era. Bayern done to you what Barca did to Arsenal but youse managed 2 goals in injury time. No one would dominate Barca the way Bayern dominated Utd in that game. The FA Cup semi final, you were a penalty in the last minute away from going out and had we not ballsed up (again) against leeds in the penutimate game we would have won that too. In fact I would go as far to say Arsenal were a better team than Utd that season.

Another thing - Wenger has gotten away with not winning a trophy for the last few years to some degree because our local rivals have under performed....not a dig, a fact.

But a resurgent Spurs side may actually force Wengers hand....so this could in the long run benefit us......or i'm looking for silver linings as another season of promise evaporates to nothing in March........again

Tottenham didn't really play that well, their tactic was to punt the ball to crouch and hope he gets away with fouling his marker a couple of times then feed of the second ball with fast players, but I guess you can't argue becuase they won.

Milan are a better team than Tottenham but it was a clash of styles, in Serie A there is a real lack of pacey wide players so Milan are not built to deal with pace. Over the two legs though Milan were the better team, Tottenham defended well though so I guess you have to give them credit for that. Milan would have much prefered to come up against a team like Chelsea or UTD. Depending on who goes through obviously, but I can't see Tottenham beating any other team left, people may say Schalke but I think without the underdog tag Tottenham may feel the pressure a bit more and Schalke would win it. Still credit where credit is due Milan have been fantastic this season and scoring come really good goals, but Tottenham kept a clean sheet against them over two legs.

No.57 can't agree more. the spanish league a part from the 'big 2' is decline. Long gone are the days when the likes of valencia and sevilla were considered as dark horses in the champios league and la liga. Take the final positions in la liga last season, the third placed valencia were an incredible 25 points behind scond placed RM. Fourth placed were a further 8 points behind valencia. 'The big 2' had 99 and 96 points respectively last season. whack them in the prem and not only would they struggle la liga would suffer miserably. La liga is simply another SPL but stronger. Its why I've ben saying for ages that the EPL needs more european places - the traditional big 4 alongside spurs and man city could quite confortably compete. Then there's everton and villa who could compete in the CL maybe even win the europa league. whats more even perhaps the likes of sunderland could play in the europa league.
But enough said on that, arsenal were very unlucky to be knocked out by arsenal; tactics spot on apart from that ridiculous red card. Im a man utd fan and have the upmost respect for wengerbut he does need to buy 2 cnentre backs and a keeper, his stubborness has gone too far. Its very well developing the young players however you still eexperience - especially in defence as we all can see they aren't winning anything.
However congrats to spurs great team display and effort.

Haha. You're right. I wasnt sitting back thinking. "We got them right where we want them" but! our defence is one of our strengths. With a bit of luck we could shut them out which we did. Our luck ran out in the home leg though.
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Shame, because if you did sit back thinking that, I would love to watch an England match with you! I could really do with a calming influence during the England matches and you would have been ideal! :)

Good luck against Kopenhagen, although I doubt you'll need it! Piece of cake (danish pastry)

Congratulations to Spurs, unfortunately I think they'll be undone by the UEFA draw machine in the next round - I can see them being *drawn* against United (it's well known they have an awful record against them) while Chelsea get Barca or Real, thus making it likely that only one English side out of three will make it to the semis (probably to face Barca).

4. At 07:29am on 10 Mar 2011, SCL wrote:

The wrong team went through yesterday, Spurs' dull long ball tactics in the first leg followed by ultra-defensive anti-football in the 2nd. At least Arsenal went down honourably.
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Honorably??? With no shot on target. the first ever club to do that!!!! When ARS beat BARCA.i posted it here that there was nothing to cellebrate as you will be demolished at The Nou Camp.

You didn't want the ball, forgot your football and your best players were equivalent to BARCA reserve!!!

As you watched Spurs you must have had regrets of why you let Gallas go.

Gallas has always started brightly at every club he signs for, just wait for the expected tantrums and toys out of the pram. I dont think Gallas would have made any difference to our result last night, the problem was having 2 unfit players on the team, No Walcott to cause them problems down the flanks and a certain Messi, Xavi, Iniesta et al. Gallas is the wrong side of 30 and i'd prefer to have Koschieny or Djourou who have both had great moments this season too. I would take Sandro though ;-)

In fact I would go as far to say Arsenal were a better team than Utd that season.

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Come on, I know Gooners are very sore this morning after being replaced as North London's best european team but you and certain other bitter gooners are making yourselves and your club look very, very silly.

@99

Cant take abit of critism??

Suppose your going to tell me you deserved to win the treble that season? I congratulated spurs, fair play to them. I'm not very sore at all.... Next?