Rampant Real hit four goals to bury 10-man Spurs

MADRID, (Reuters) – Real Madrid returned to their  ruthless best yesterday when Emmanuel Adebayor struck twice in  a 4-0 drubbing of 10-man Tottenham Hotspur as the Spanish giants  seized control of their Champions League quarter-final.

Emmanuel Adebayor (right) maintained his superb scoring record against Tottenham to lead Real Madrid to victory.

Real, making their first appearance in the last eight since  2004, strolled past debutants Spurs after the 15th-minute  dismissal of England striker Peter Crouch gave the home side’s  quest for a 10th European Cup crown a major boost.

Jose Mourinho’s side were already 1-0 up when Crouch earned  a second booking after Adebayor had outjumped his marker at a  fourth-minute corner and sent a downward header goalwards that  neither keeper Heurelho Gomes nor Luka Modric on the line could  keep out.

The Togo striker, on loan from Manchester City, added a  second header in the 57th minute before Angel Di Maria scored  the best goal of the night with a powerful shot into the top  corner in the 72nd.

Cristiano Ronaldo completed the rout in the closing stages  with a fine volley from a Kaka cross as Real bounced back in  style after Saturday’s 1-0 home defeat by La Liga strugglers  Sporting Gijon.

“Eleven against 10 at this level is mission impossible,”  said Mourinho who won the Champions League with Inter Milan last  season and with Porto in 2004.

“I think Spurs will try everything in the second leg,” the  Portuguese told reporters. “They have belief and White Hart Lane  is not an easy place to play.

“They will fight for sure. I know the mentality of English  teams and their fans. We haven’t lost yet in this season’s  Champions League so we’ll try to get a positive result in  London.”

Adebayor, who had a spell with Tottenham’s north London  rivals Arsenal before joining City, has now scored 10 times  against Spurs and was given a rapturous ovation when he was  replaced by Gonzalo Higuain in the 75th minute.

BLISTERING
TEMPO

A giant flag reading “To the final, let’s go Madrid” and  covering almost the entire first tier of the stands on one side  of the stadium was unfurled before kickoff at the Bernabeu and  Real began the game at a blistering tempo.

Around 3,000 Spurs fans high up in the stands were initially  in excellent voice but their hopes of a surprise result in the  Spanish capital were effectively dashed within a quarter of an  hour.

After Adebayor had opened the scoring, Crouch lunged at  Sergio Ramos in the eighth minute and was sent off after a  similar challenge on Marcelo seven minutes later.

“I am disappointed. That was all we needed, going down to 10  men so early,” said Spurs manager Harry Redknapp. “He (Crouch)  shouldn’t take that chance to make it a red card.”

Redknapp’s plans were disrupted moments before kickoff when  winger Aaron Lennon was forced to withdraw due to illness.

On the other flank Welsh international Gareth Bale,  returning from injury, was the only real threat for the  visitors.

He dashed on to a long ball on the half hour and left Ramos  in his wake before sending an angled shot into the side netting  in what was Tottenham’s best chance of the game.

After Crouch’s dismissal former Real favourite Rafael van  der Vaart laboured alone up front until halftime and substitute  Jermain Defoe performed the same thankless task in the second  period.

The hosts laid siege to the Spurs goal for most of the  second half and Adebayor forced a fine save from Gomes with  another header in the 66th minute as Real produced a slew of  chances.

“We have a very good advantage and I am sure we can  progress,” said Ronaldo after making his comeback from injury.  “But we can’t underestimate them because anything can happen in  football.”

Redknapp said his players would do all they could to try to  turn the tie around on April 13.

“We’re at home so we’ll give it a go,” he said. “It’s not  over until it’s over but we’ve got a mountain to climb.”

The winners will play 2009 champions Barcelona or Shakhtar  Donetsk of Ukraine in the semi-finals.