The European Champions Real Madrid was defeated by Tottenham Hotspur, as a result of that, they slid to the second position in the Group H standings, A condition which they need to avoid in other avert meeting teams that finished as group leaders.
Real Madrid lose
ground to Tottenham Hotspur on matchday four in the Champions League, having drawn at home in Spain and suffered a 3-1 humiliation at Wembley Stadium in England.
The Champions League holder was on the same point with Tottenham before the outcome of their clash in Wembley, but after the fourth game in London, Spurs went on to top the group with a three-point difference, A situation which Real Madrid needed to avoid in other not to play one of the top teams in Europe who finished on top spot of their group.
Spurs will need to claim maximum points from their last two games against Borussia Dortmund in Germany and Apoel Nicosia in London respectively to keep Real Madrid in second place, that is to say, if the Wembley outfit claims the necessary six points from the two games, irrespectively of Real Madrid's result with their opponents they are not affected.
Real Madrid also need to avoid further slip to be able to keep the pressure on the group leader, Los Blancos will take a trip to Cyprus to face Apoel and play their last match against Dortmund at Bernabeu as their last two matches in the group stage.
Real Madrid will definitely want to avoid any top team going into the second round of the tournament, they will need a favour from Dortmund who is at home to Tottenham. A win for Dortmund or a draw will be appreciated by the European Champions provided they can run down Apoel Nicosia in Cyprus.
Los Merengues need to see Spurs stumble so that they can vacate the top spot for them to slide up, putting into considering that they don’t have the opportunity to play Tottenham again in the group stage. So the best the Champions can do now is to wait and hope for the Mauricio Pochettino’s men to lose ground.
Tottenham will face a huge challenge in Germany when they face Dortmund, The German outfit have two points after four games same as Apoel Nicosia as Europa Cup qualification is still up for grab for both teams.
It is important for Real Madrid to avoid second place finish in a bid to avoid top teams such as Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester United, Besiktas and considering the fact that Los Blancos is struggling for form.
The possibility of being knocked out in the second round is also a reality if European Champions finished second if they face the likes of PSG or Manchester City considering Real Madrid shallow squad depth.
Zinedine Zidane's men need to show their winning mentality to achieve their task of finishing in the top spot despite losing ground to Spurs, with just two games left in the group stage the defending Champions can still achieve what seems to be out of their control.
No comments:
Post a Comment