I wouldn’t swap Kane for Ronaldo, says Vertonghen
HARRY KANE is in Mauricio Pochettino’s starting line-up tonight, handing Tottenham a serious shot of confidence for their Champions League showdown with Zinedine Zidane’s Real Madrid.
Pochettino said yesterday he is ‘very confident’ of having the luxury of unleashing Kane against the 12-time kings of Europe and it iss understood he is set to start.
A hamstring injury had kept Kane out of Tottenham’s last twoo matches — resulting in successivee losses to West Ham and Manchester United. It showed how severelyy they can miss the striker.
Club staff will check on the forward this morning to be sure, though the sight of Kane’s name on the initial list has handed his team-mates an automatic boost.
Jan Vertonghen was sat alongside Pochettino at yesterday’ss press conference and the 30-yearold was asked to compare Kane and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Ronaldo is the world’s greatestt player — according to last week’ss FIFA Best awards, at least — butt the way Vertonghen finished hiss answer was particularly telling.
‘They are both unbelievable players,’ Vertonghen said. ‘Ronaldo has his qualities and Harry has his. We have to show respect to Ronaldo for what he has won, his level and how he is still doing it.
‘Harry is one of the best No 9s in Europe, maybe the best. He shows that every week. I wouldn’t swap Harry for any player at the moment.’
While all eyes were on Kane at yesterday’s open session, there is another England international who is set to return against Zinedine Zidane’s Real.
Dele Alli, who has been heavily linked with the La Liga club, is set for his first appearance in the Champions League this season.
Alli missed their group games against Borussia Dortmund, APOEL Nicosia and Real at the Bernabeu because of a red card in the Europa League last season.
That sending-off for a sickening tackle against Gent showed how controversy can follow the 21-yearold, who was involved in a spat with Ashley Young at Old Trafford at the weekend.
Pochettino yesterday admitted it was a challenging start to the season for Alli, whose motivation may not have always been at its best.
‘A strange, difficult pre- season for him for different reasons and then he was banned. Of course, it can affect the motivation about preparing himself to compete,’ Pochettino said.
‘Dele Alli is important for us. He needs to enjoy playing football. He’s a character and a winner. He will show his character and personality on the pitch as he did against Manchester United.
‘But that’s football. He is a winner and always wants to win. When someone tries to wind him up, it’s normal. But I think his behaviour was good (at Old Trafford).
‘When you are in the game, you want to win, it’s normal to argue with an opponent.’
Pochettino took Alli to Madrid two weeks ago despite him being banned for the tie.
The Spurs boss wanted to keep his seemingly unsettled star with the group.
‘He is so young, still so young, 21,’ Pochettino added.
‘Sometimes we expect too much. The expectation levels on him are massive because he has shown already he is capable to create and do something special.
‘For me, he is a special player, but has the capability to improve and get better. He can improve but you need time.
‘With time and every day getting better and improving, then of course being successful, not to repeat his mistakes, then for sure he can become one of the best players in the world.’
Pochettino was not short of superlatives for Real, one of them being that he sees them as ‘the best team in the world’.
Yet Zidane’s side travelled to London yesterday in a vulnerable state, with their 2-1 defeat at La Liga first-timers Girona on Sunday having not gone down well with their fans.
Some Spanish media have labelled it a ‘crisis’ and asked about the unhappiness, but Zidane said: ‘In some way, I actually like this. I like having the motivation of a big match so we can get back to winning ways.
‘This is something that inspires me. When the going gets tough, I think I work my best.’
Real have never appeared at Wembley, though attempted to familiarise themselves with the surroundings last night.
Zidane held a 7pm training session at the temporary home of Spurs. The real test will come tonight as they go up against a Tottenham team spearheaded by Kane.