Llo and behold
Tottenham goalkeeper keeps Real at bay in Madrid
MADRID: A pair of stunning second-half saves from
Hugo Lloris salvaged a precious point for Tottenham
Hotspur as they held European champions Real Madrid 1-1 at the Bernabeu.
Both sides remain unbeaten in this season’s Champions League and well placed to progress to the last 16. They each have seven points after Cristiano Ronaldo’s penalty cancelled out Raphael Varane’s own goal in the first period.
“Hugo was fantastic, he deserves a big prize. He showed his real level,” said Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino.
“Today we see why Hugo Lloris is one of the best goalkeepers of the world.
“The performance was fantastic; the effort, the belief, it is important to congratulate our players.”
The sides meet again with top spot in Group H on the line at Wembley on Nov 1.
Borussia Dortmund’s 1-1 draw at Apoel Nicosia means the Germans and Cypriots remain six points adrift of the group leaders.
“We can’t ever be happy not to win at home, but today there were two great goalkeepers,” said Real coach Zinedine Zidane.
“Keylor (Navas) for us and Lloris for them and sometimes you have to accept it.”
An entertaining encounter got off to a flying start as 18-year-old Achraf Hakimi – on his Champions League debut for Real – teed up Ronaldo to head off the post and Karim Benzema pulled the rebound wide with the goal gaping.
After a nervous opening 10 minutes, though, Tottenham settled with Harry Kane predictably a constant threat up front.
Kane sensational form saw him labelled a “complete player” by Zidane on the eve of the game, fuelling speculation he could follow Luka Modric and Gareth Bale’s lead in making a move to Madrid.
“A point at the Bernabeu, you’d take that every day of the week,” said Kane. “It shows how far we’ve come as a team.”
Real demonstrated why they have won this competition for the past two seasons by restoring order and parity before the break.
A flowing team move put Toni Kroos through and when he was upended by Serge Aurier, Ronaldo stepped up to bury the resulting penalty.
Spurs were then bailed out by two outstanding saves from Lloris after the restart.
The French captain’s outstretched leg diverted Benzema’s powerful header from point-blank range to safety, much to his former international teammate’s dismay.
And Ronaldo then couldn’t believe his eyes as Lloris leapt to turn over his rising drive which was headed for the top corner.
“At this level it’s a great feeling to get a good draw,” Lloris told BT Sport.
“They put a lot of pressure on. We could have buckled and conceded a second, but 1-1 at half-time was good and we kept working together until the end.” — AFP