ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE: Wigan Athletic 0 Tottenham 0:PETER CROUCH has reserved his best performances this season for continental opposition, with seven goals in the Champions League but tomorrow he is pitted against one foreign defender who undoubtedly has the measure of him.
Real Madrid’s Ricardo Carvalho has shut out Crouch in all but one of the 14 matches they have gone toe-to-toe, so it will be an irresistible force meeting an immovable object at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Tottenham Hotspur, who owe their quarter-final contest with Jose Mourinho’s galacticos to Crouch’s finish against Milan at San Siro, only perked up on Saturday after his arrival just shy of the hour. But a fourth consecutive failure to beat relegation strugglers has jeopardised their chances of re-qualifying for the competition.
However, Crouch insisted: “In Europe we haven’t had a problem. We’ve scored a hell of a lot of goals against top opposition. We find it better when teams attack us, and it’s more of an open game. We’ve got a tough task, but we’ve proved this year against top teams like Inter and Milan that we’ve been able to get results. Hopefully we can do that in Madrid. Even when I played in the Champions League with Liverpool, I always seemed to do well and score goals. It’s been no different this season.”
Crouch reached the Champions League final with Liverpool in 2007, after Chelsea were seen off on penalties in the semi-final. Crucially, however, Carvalho missed the second leg. “I had a lot of respect for Carvalho when he was at Chelsea and I’ve had some good battles with him,” Crouch said.
Having seen his bottom-placed side shut Spurs out – a point was unsatisfactory for both clubs – Wigan’s manager Roberto Martinez nevertheless extolled their attacking virtues. “People can underestimate Spurs, especially in the Champions League, because they are a new name in the competition. The biggest asset they have is they’ve got goal-scoring ability from many angles. They can be direct with Crouch or they can link up play with Luka Modric and Rafael van der Vaart, and with set-piece plays they are sensational.
“Spurs can hurt you in many ways and in Europe you don’t get that, so they can make things very difficult for Real Madrid . . . I think it could be a closer game than people think and it could come down to details, a referee’s decision, a piece of magic, or having someone like Gareth Bale fit to give you a different option. Those margins are so small.”
It was a small margin four minutes into the second half that denied Wigan the double over Spurs when Heurelho Gomes’ fingertips clawed Tom Cleverley’s cute curler around a post.
Restricted to two senior players at their training ground in the build-up – Tom Huddlestone and Jermaine Jenas – due to international call-ups, Tottenham appeared ill-prepared for a return to league action after a fortnight’s break. Fatigue and inexperience of competing on two fronts are clearly having an effect as they approach the home straight.
Guardian Service
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