I may just pop from the sheer excitement of it all. Prior to a trip to a slightly below-par Man Utd I could not for the life of me envisage a three-point haul; and yet ahead of the visit of European Champs Inter I bound around in gaily optimism and this proved to be one of the most famous nights in our history.
Another five minutes and goodness how things would have panned out back in Milan. The Bale hat-trick certainly papered over a few defensive cracks and general all-round timidity, but we at least had conclusive proof that Inter are vulnerable. As Arnold Schwarzenegger so sagely opined in Predator, “If it bleeds, we can kill it.”
I was crestfallen when Vaart hobbled off at the weekend, and the prospect loomed of taking on Inter with a midfield bereft of both him and Huddlestone; a midfield which would therefore presumably comprise Jenas and Palacios, with Modric in the hole. Joy then that Vaart is actually a bit of a drama queen when it comes to niggles and strains. It seems that the suspected hamstrung twang was no such thing, and with Huddlestone back were be able to field a midfield high on technique and vision. Bale-Modric-VDV-Huddlestone-Lennon did not exactly offer the back-four much protection, but meant for some high-tempo madcap attacking from the off.
As ever with Redknapp, the tactics were simple and clear. The team were set out 4-4-1-1 with Van der Vaart and Modric given relative freedom and both wingers, Bale and Lennon, told to isolate the Inter full backs.
It was a thrillingly effective ploy as Spurs again and again exposed Inter down the flanks, with Bale again having a storming game and both Tom Huddlestone and Luka Modric showing their aptitude for Champions League football by retaining the ball intelligently. Luka Modric was the creator of the first goal with a clever sleight of foot on the edge of the area before playing in Van der Vaart, who emphatically beat Inter keeper Luca Castellazzi with a low drive.
For such a good player Maicon was shocking, utterly dominated by Bale. The young Welshman had produced a performance of the very highest calibre in the first tie and Inter once again had to bow to his burgeoning talent when he set up the second goal Spurs deserved just after the hour. He simply ran the right side of Inter's rearguard into the ground before playing in Crouch, who made no mistake this time as he slid in six yards out.
Eto'o was a constant threat, and he suddenly injected real tension with a fine goal, struck past Cudicini from an angle after he dummied Hutton. Bale was in no mood to let the win slip away though, and in a moment that characterised his display, Younes Kaboul broke up play on the edge of our box and fed Gareth midway in our half. He charged forward, pushed the ball past Lucio and raced onto it before squaring for Roman Pavlyuchenko to tap home the clincher. Billed as a key battle before the game, it was simply a no contest as Gareth blasted past Maicon - voted best defender in the Champions League last season - time and time again.
Three points against the holders, top of the group and a display of the highest quality. Never mind a DVD, this will be turned into a surround-sound, home cinema, 3-D, HD, blu-ray.
