Shortly before half-time on a thrilling, boisterous European night, there was a moment of rare comedy at Wembley. Tackling back in his own half, Harry Winks let an arm trail lightly across Casemiro’s shoulder, only for the Brazilian to reel back, stunned, tumbling over backwards desperately. Casemiro didn’t want the ball. He wanted a break. He wanted his free‑kick.
Ten minutes into the second half something similar happened. As Marcelo rumbled upfield Dele Alli sprinted 40 metres in an arc to harry him and eventually concede another foul as Marcelo crumpled gratefully. Marcelo didn’t really want the ball, either.
Dele Alli double rocks Real Madrid for historic Tottenham victory
Alli bellowed at the fourth official, then at his manager. A minute later, still running on anger, he did something both wicked and beautiful to Casemiro just outside the Real Madrid box. Picking up a loose ball Alli slalomed forward, put Casemiro on his backside again with a lovely playground feint, then drove a shot into the back off the net via a deflection off Sergio Ramos.
Spurs were 2-0 up. Alli had his second goal. The stadium gurgled and bellowed, consumed by the most engrossing night of elite-level football involving a bunch of Englishmen this place has seen since its re-inception as modern Wembley.
Even before the kick-off there was something beautiful about the prospect of five young English players starting against Madrid; the oldest of whom Kieran Trippier, has worked his way to this stage from the Championship. This was a Champions League night that showed the best of English football, the state of the art, and surely the armature for any serious attempt at sending a workable young team to the World Cup in Russia next year.
Make no mistake: Madrid weren’t just beaten 3-1 here, they were given a chasing, flustered at times by the energy and craft of their young opponents. Wembley was in an unusually febrile mood as Karim Benzema kicked off, and Spurs drove hard at Madrid from the start, Alli, Winks and Eric Dier playing like three men roped together in a storm, holding a high midfield line and playing right in the faces of their illustrious opponents.