The last Meeting...Spurs and Madrid

Harry Redknapp

Real Madrid and Tottenham Hotspur have never met in the European Cup before and only previously met in the quarterfinals of the 1984/85 UEFA Cup.

The first leg took place on March 6th 1985 at White Hart Lane when Real Madrid were coached by club legend, Amancio and striker Emilio Butragueño scored the victory goal on the 24-minute mark. 

The return leg at the Bernabeu ended in a 0-0 draw and Real went through to the next round eventually wiing the title by defeating Inter Milan (2-0 comeback at the Bernabeu) and Videoton (3-0 in Hungary; 0-1 in Madrid) in the semis and the final.

FIRST LEG: 06-03-85, White Hart Line (London)

Tottenham Hotspur - 0: Clemence, Perryman, Hughton, Miller (Dick, 83´), Stevens, Chiedozie, (Brooke, 62'), Hoddle, Hazard, Falco, Galvin, Crooks.

Real Madrid - 1: Miguel Angel, Chendo, Salguero, Sanchis, Camacho, Gallego, Stielike, Michel, Angel, Butragueño (Juanito, 80'), Valdano (Santillana, 87')

Goals: 0-1 Butragueño (24').

Referee: Casarin (ITA).

RETURN LEG: 20-03-85, Santiago Bernabeu Stadium

Real Madrid - 0: Miguel Angel, Chendo, Sanchis, Salguero, Camacho, Gallego, Michel, Angel, Pineda (San Jose, 89'), Butragueño (Lozano, 90'), Valdano.

Tottenham Hotspur - 0: Clemence, Thomas, Miller, Roberts, Hugthon, Perryman, Hazard, Hoddle, Galvin (Dick, 80'), Falco, Crooks (Brooke, 68').

Referee: Galler (SWI).

Spurs Draw Real Madrid in Quarterfinals

Rafael van der Vaart

So it comes to pass that Rafael van der Vaart will return to the Santiago Bernabeu with Tottenham Hotspur to face Real Madrid in the quarter finals of the 2011 UEFA Champions League in early April - hoping to keep the dream alive of an appearance at Wembley on Saturday, May 28th. That dream will also require overcoming the winners of the other all Premier League quarter-final which has pitched the other London club in the competition, Chelsea, against Manchester United – a repeat of the 2008 final in Moscow. 

This all-white Spurs versus Real clash will undoubtedly produce a colourful 180 minutes of top drawer tactics with the self proclaimed “Special One” returning to London to do battle with Harry Redknapp, who has tuned around the fortunes of the White Hart Lane club since his arrival, which has seen his side lose only one game in the Group stages, and then dismiss Champions League aristocrats , AC Milan, on an away goal in the first knock out stage. 

For van der Vaart the chance to undo ambitions of Jose Mourinho – the manager who sold him to Spurs – may be ample motivation to stop the Portuguese coach winning back to back European titles. However, a quick call to his Dutch National team mate at Inter Milan, Wesley Sneijder, would quickly dispel any sense that it will prove an easy task either side of Easter week.

For Manchester United the trip to Stamford Bridge maybe timely given the lack of fluency with Ancelloti’s side at the moment albeit it will be packed with tension given that Sir Alex Ferguson’s men are in pole position for another Premier League title. In Torres though, Chelsea may hold a scoring weapon should he return to form as former Liverpool players always seem to find added delight in beating the Reds. But on current form Chelsea might be viewed as the underdogs for this tie especially given the second is be at Old Trafford. 

The trip that no team really fancied has fallen to Shakthar Donetsk of Ukraine, who despite beating the Catalan side in the Nou Camp at the group stages two seasons ago, will know that few have outwitted Pep Guardiola over recent years at the Camp Nou. This week it has been the off field news about Abidal’s liver tumour and his subsequent operation that has dominated the headlines in Catalunya with the football slipping slightly below the horizon. 

Undoubtedly the Abidal story will exact an emotional response from the squad making Barca even tougher quarter final opponent’s. 

Inter Milan have the easiest draw in theory travelling to Schalke 04 in Germany to a club that sacked their manager, Felix Magath, only days ago and replacing him with Ralf Rangnick who takes charge for the first time in the away match at St. Pauli on April 1st. Until then Seppo Eichkorn will be in charge of the team with a trip to second in the Bundesliga, Leverkusen, looming on Sunday as the first priority 

Rangnick returns for his second spell as Schalke head coach, having previously held the position from 2004 to 2005 during which time the Gelsenkirchen side to runners-up in the Bundesliga and the final of the DFB Cup. Having moved to 1899 Hoffenheim following that success, who were then playing third-tier football in the Regional League South, he took them up to the top flight. However he resigned as Hoffenheim’s head coach on January 1st and will have little time to influence the team by the time he takes his charges to the San Siro a few days after he starts work. 

Brazilian Leandro has secured a run of five consecutive wins in Serie A to move up to second place behind Milan and has settled things after the departure of Rafa Benitez and the manner of the last minute win at the Allianz Arena against Bayern suggests that the gods maybe smiling favourably on the current Champions League cup holders. The option of Schalke 04 in the quarter finals will be a relief given the club already met Tottenham Hotspur on the Group stages last year. 

For Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo that return trip to Old Trafford has been avoided and unless both clubs reach the final they will not meet this season.

Quarter-final draw:

Real Madrid v Tottenham Hotspur

FC Barcelona v Shakthar Donetsk

Internazionale v Schalke 04

Chelsea v Manchester United

All ties are to be played April 5th / 6th and 12th / 13th.

UEFA Disciplinary Update

Joe Jordan engages Gattuso

Arsenal FC manager Arsène Wenger and midfield player Samir Nasri have both been suspended for one UEFA club competition match following charges of improper conduct relating to the English team's UEFA Champions League game against FC Barcelona in Spain on 8 March.

The UEFA Control and Disciplinary Body today decided to suspend Wenger and Nasri for one European match each, with the punishment applying to the next UEFA club game for which either man will be eligible. The Arsenal manager has also been fined €10,000.

UEFA had opened disciplinary proceedings against the pair following the north London side's round of 16 second leg in Barcelona. An appeal may be lodged against the ruling within three days of the dispatch of the reasoned decision.

The Control and Disciplinary Body has also imposed a one-match ban on the Tottenham Hotspur FC assistant manager Joe Jordan following incidents that took place at their UEFA Champions League round of 16 first leg against AC Milan in Italy on 15 February.

In Jordan's case, the punishment applies to Tottenham's next game in the competition – the English team's quarter-final first leg on 5/6 April. As with the Arsenal decisions, an appeal can be made.

Champions League Quarter-final Draw

Gary Linerker

Three English clubs remain in the Champions League and when Gary Lineker makes the draw for the quarter-finals and semi-finals on Friday at 11am it will decide if Chelsea, Manchester United and Tottenham all face each other.

Lineker is conducting the draw at Uefa’s headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland in his role as ambassador for the final, which takes place at Wembley on May 28th.

Two of his former clubs are in the last eight – Spurs, at this stage of the competition for the first time since 1962, and Barcelona, who are the bookies’ favourites.

Barca have already knocked out Arsenal but Wayne Rooney insists they hold no fear for Manchester United, who were beaten by the Catalan side in the 2009. “We will be confident we can win whoever we get in the next round,” said the England striker. “If you are going to win this tournament you have to play anyone – and beat them.”

Holders Inter Milan also represent a strong threat after their last-gasp elimination of Bayern Munich, while Ukrainian champions Shakhtar Donetsk, appearing in the quarter-finals for the first time, have shown against Arsenal and Roma this season they are a force to be reckoned with.

Schalke are the rank outsiders, at least in terms of the bookmakers, and they sacked manager Felix Magath on Wednesday after a disappointing season in the Bundesliga, which sees them currently in 10th position.

The quarter-final ties will be played on April 5th/6th and 12th/13th. The semi-final pairings will also be drawn tomorrow, with the matches on April 26th/27th and May 3rd/4th.

The draw for the Europa League quarter-finals and semi-finals will also take place today. It too will be open and unseeded.

The Europa League final takes place in Dublin on May 18th but there will be no British club in the final as Liverpool, Rangers and Manchester City all bowed out of the competition on Thursday night.

Darcy and O'Driscoll Approach Record

Brian O'Driscoll and Gordon D'Arcy have been at the heart of Ireland's midfield since 2002 and will equal a world record against England when they join each other at centre for the final round of matches in the 2011 RBS 6 Nations.

England's Will Carling and Jeremy Guscott currently hold the world record for the number of appearances together at centre with 45 (44 for England and 1 for the British & Irish Lions).

But the Leinster and Ireland pairing of Brian O'Driscoll and Gordon D'Arcymoved to within one of that mark during last weekend's defeat to Wales in Cardiff.

Their current tally of 44 matches together for Ireland include three appearances off the bench by D'Arcy (against France, Italy and South Africa in 2009). This Saturday's game at the Aviva Stadium will be their 42nd Test start together.

There are also two more fixtures in which they both appeared in the Ireland matchday squad (against Fiji in 2002 and against the Pacific Islanders in 2006), but on those occasions D'Arcy actually replaced O'Driscoll.

The crunch clash with England will be their 27th start in the Six Nations and their 29th overall.

O'Driscoll is the world's most-capped centre with 117 caps for Ireland and the Lions, with only one appearance coming off the bench. That was against Romania in the 1999 Rugby World Cup.

Ireland played England on 57 occasions at the old Lansdowne Road, twice at Croke Park and there have also been Test encounters in Rathmines, at Ravenhill and the Mardyke in Cork.

Indeed, England were Ireland's opponents in their first three Tests and were the first visiting national team to play in Ireland. That was at the Leinster Cricket Ground in Rathmines on December 13, 1875.

England's first visit to Lansdowne Road came 133 years ago, and this weekend will be their debut at the new Aviva Stadium.