Tottenham’s 1-0 win over AC Milan at San Siro was one of the biggest European results in their history. Harry Redknapp will be only too aware that defeat in Wednesday’s return leg would be catastrophic. Can his side hang on?
It’s been fifty years since Tottenham Hotspur last played at this level of European competition, but the first leg of this tie showed they are by no means out of their depth.
Their first leg performance was more than just a good result; it was a galvanising display that showed a newfound resilience that has surfaced this season. In the face of on and off pitch provocation, bone-shuddering challenges and late pressure, Spurs depleted side stood up to be counted.
As a consequence, Wednesday night’s second leg brings new, unforeseen problems. Despite being bullish about their chances – and with just cause considering their European campaign so far – few Spurs fans thought they could win at San Siro. With the side that pulled off that feat now bolstered by the returning Gareth Bale, there is almost an expectation that Spurs will progress. Unfortunately, they have a legacy of losing seemingly un-losable games. It will be interesting to see if that mentality has been totally erased under Harry Redknapp.
The signs would suggest that it has been. Spurs have missed a slew of players this season, an injury torpor that few other teams would be able to cope with. In the centre-back position alone, Ledley King, Jonathan Woodgate, Michael Dawson and Younes Kaboul have all suffered medium to long-term injuries. Even makeshift central defender Vedran Corluka is currently sidelined due to Mathieu Flamini’s criminal two-footer in the first leg.
Yet Redknapp’s side have managed to go to places such as Aston Villa, Blackburn and Wolves and taken points in battles they would have previously shied away from. The San Siro game was merely the pick of those determined performances, as satisfying and impressive as any 4-0 thrashing.
Milan’s motivation will come from the ferocious press reaction following the first leg, a reaction that was laced with shame following Gennaro Gattuso’s embarrassing fracas with Joe Jordan and half the Tottenham bench.
Their domestic form remains strong, with three wins in a row since February 15. The fact that Spurs have failed to win since then – against two sides in the relegation mixer – is further evidence that Serie A now sits firmly in the Premier League’s shadow.
Alexandre Pato will surely start for Allegri’s side, the much-missed effervescent vim that the aging seven-times champions lacked for much of the first leg. However, Gattuso’s indiscretions, injuries to Kevin Prince-Boateng, Andrea Pirlo and Massimo Ambrosini and the ineligibility of Antonio Cassano, Mark van Bommel and Urby Emanuelson mean that Milan’s team may be worse off. Young German, Alexander Merkel, may be able to provide extra energy in his more experienced team mates’ stead.
It will be a thrilling, pulsating night at White Hart Lane. Milan are a wounded animal with three weeks of thinking time behind them and the weight of Italy on their shoulders. Tottenham are expectant, and will be eager to prove that they are legitimate members of the European elite.