Pride Restored

Spurs aren’t nearly as bad as the 4-0 scoreline made them look at the Bernabeau and Madrid will surely travel to London in relaxed mood. Inter certainly didn’t do themselves justice losing 2-5 at the San Siro either. Schalke, Inter’s conquerors, can’t be that special judging by their mediocre position in the Bundesliga. Everything suggests that Wednesday night should be payback time in the Champions League, even if qualification matters are surely decided already. Wins for Tottenham and Inter Milan on the night are a combined 6/1 shot with bet365.

Jose Mourinho has said all the obligatory things about ‘work still to be done’ but he won’t have lost a moment’s sleep over the forthcoming second leg at White Hart Lane. It seems hard to believe that the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo will be fully inspired at 4-0 up either; all this bodes very well for a Spurs win on the night. Harry Redknapp didn’t wait this long for a crack at the Champions League just to throw the towel in without a fight and the Tottenham faithful will demand a performance worthy of the occasion. The return of Tom Huddlestone is a bonus and Aaron Lennon will hopefully show what he might have done, had he been well, in Madrid.

Inter have already shown their powers of recovery as recently as the previous round of the Champions League. On that occasion a home defeat to Bayern Munich was overturned in Germany courtesy of a spectacular Pandev strike in the 88th minute that sealed a memorable 3-2 win. With Eto and Sneijder in tandem, the defending champions are always likely to carry a goal threat and coach Leonardo has certainly got his side pushing forward more than predecessor Benitez. This will obviously be the order of the day on Wednesday, and should reap some reward. The Nerazzuri have won 17 of their last 24 fixtures and Schalke have lost 14 times this season; it all suggests that this is an opportunity to exact some level of revenge.

Back Spurs and Inter to prove a point at an enticing 6/1 with bet365.