You just knew he was going to score and when he did, it was no surprise he did not celebrate. It was surely out of respect for his former club but perhaps Gareth Bale did not want to kick Tottenham Hotspur when they were down.
This was not a great way for Tottenham to limber up for the new Premier League season, which kicks off for them at Manchester United at lunchtime on Saturday, as they were convincingly beaten by Real Madrid. Then again, it was Real and the final score was hardly a disgrace.
Harry Kane wore the captain’s armband and he had an extremely quiet 86 minutes before his substitution; there were precious few chances created for the striker or, indeed, anybody else in a Tottenham shirt and there was the familiar issue of soft concessions. When James Rodríguez scores with a header, as he did to break the deadlock, it is never a good look for a defence.
Bale, though, commandeered the headlines by dint of his late goal and it felt as though he was determined to repay Rafael Benítez for the decision to play him in a central attacking role. Bale craves the freedom that the position affords and he said he had spoken to the new Real manager about being used in it. Previously at Real, Bale has played on or off the right.
“It’s my best position,” Bale said. “When I played for Tottenham, I felt I played my best football there and when I play for Wales, I play there and play my best football. It’s great to have the support of the manager and the president [Florentino Pérez] and, hopefully, I can repay them with some goals and trophies.”
Bale’s goal came after a loose Tottenham pass. He picked up possession and tore at the retreating backline before shooting from the edge of the area with the outside of his left boot. The ball was spinning viciously and Michel Vorm got his hands to it but he had to do better.
Mauricio Pochettino’s blood pressure had been raised by Rodríguez’s goal that followed the sort of collective switch-off that had bedevilled the manager during his debut season at the club when only four top-flight teams conceded moreoften. Isco’s ball in from the left was well weighted but the ease with which Rodríguez stole in behind Eric Dier and in front of Danny Rose to score was a black mark for Tottenham.
Real might have scored more in the first half, when they created a clutch of chances but they could reflect on a positive workout, with their league season still over two weeks away.
For Tottenham, the action is rather closer and Pochettino said that he would now like to return to London immediately after Wednesday’s third placed play-off against Milan, who lost 3-0 to Bayern Munich in the later kick-off. The wisdom of entering the two-game Audi Cup so close to the Premier League kick-off stands to be questioned. As with this game against Real, the third-placed tie kicks off at 6.15pm local time.
“We need to try and rearrange the flight,” Pochettino said. “It is maybe better if we arrive on Wednesday night in London but if we stay here, we train here on Thursday morning and then arrive back later on Thursday. It is true it is a rush but it is not a problem.”
Tottenham enjoyed the plus point of an assured first start from the 19-year-old midfielder, Dele Alli. He decorated a driving performance with an impudent nutmeg on Luka Modric. But there was much for Pochettino to fret about, including the club’s over-reliance on Kane, who is, at present, the only senior striker at his disposal.
There was spice to this tie, a non-friendly edge at times and it was epitomised by Sergio Ramos, the Real captain. He squared up to Érik Lamela at half-time and was booked on 55 minutes for scything through the back of Christian Eriksen, which prompted Kane to dash over to remonstrate with him.
“That tackle was quite naughty,” Kane said. “Sometimes, they can do a lot of damage. We are brothers out there on the pitch and, as captain, you want to protect them.”
Lamela ought to have given Tottenham the lead in the second minute only to slip and sky from close range after Kyle Walker’s cross but it was Real who created the bulk of the first-half chances. Jesé rattled the crossbar from a tight angle and he watched a deflected shot draw a scrambling save out of Vorm while Bale headed narrowly wide from Rodríguez’s free-kick and Vorm kept out Modric’s deflected shot.
