Tottenham’s joyride hits bump in the road after Peter Crouch red

This was the kind of experience that everyone associated with Tottenham must have feared in the Champions League at the start of the season and it will take time to draw consolation from it happening as deep into the competition as the quarter-finals and against a team of Real’s quality.

Redknapp said with more than a degree of sarcasm that Crouch’s sending-off, for fouls on Sergio Ramos in the eighth minute and Marcelo after quarter of an hour, was “all we needed”.

It put Tottenham in a terrible position — and it represented an uncharacteristic abdication of duty from Crouch, who is not obviously the type to suffer from Mario Balotelli syndrome — but, in reality, they were already 1-0 down to Adebayor’s fourth-minute goal and pinned up against the ropes like a boxer who, having successfully fought above his weight, had more than met his match.

Real were excellent — not in Barcelona’s class, but still excellent. They actually endured a lull in their game in the 25 minutes after Crouch’s red card, but, driven forward by Xabi Alonso and with Ramos and Marcelo, the full backs, providing a great attacking threat, they looked like they will give Barcelona a serious game in the next round. That is if, as the ticket touts outside the Bernabéu yesterday afternoon believe, Shakhtar Donetsk prove no obstacle to an all-Spanish semi-final.

It hardly helped Tottenham that Lennon had cried off just minutes before kick-off. The winger is one player who might — might — have given Real’s defenders something to think about, but, having complained of illness during the afternoon, he informed Redknapp after the warm-up that he “didn’t have any energy and might not last five minutes”.

What then took place was like watching a screw being turned on Tottenham: Alonso’s crisp passes, the pace and attacking threat of Ramos and Marcelo, the creative menace of Di María, Mesut Özil and Ronaldo and the energy and aggression of Adebayor, for whom the sight of Tottenham, one of his favourite opponents, was enough to relight the spark that went out in his final season at Arsenal and barely flickered at Manchester City.

It was immediately clear that Adebayor was up for the fight, but first came the threat from Ronaldo. The Portugal forward set the tone for his evening with two goal attempts in the first three minutes before setting up a move from which Di María’s shot was deflected wide. From the ensuing corner, Jermaine Jenas failed to challenge Adebayor, whose header was too strong for Heurelho Gomes and evaded Luka Modric on the line.

It already looked a huge task for Tottenham, but it became more daunting still when Crouch was sent off. On six minutes, he was booked for a needless lunge at Ramos. Nine minutes later, again inexplicably, he dived into another challenge, this time on Marcelo, and left Felix Brych, the referee, with little option but to send him off.

If there was hope for Tottenham, it came from Bale, as it did in Milan during the group stage last October when they found themselves 3-0 down after the early dismissal of Gomes, ultimately losing 4-3 before blitzing the Italian champions 3-1 in the return match.

There were few of the slalom runs from Bale that did for Inter, but on the half-hour he took a pass by Michael Dawson on his chest, hurtled away from Ricardo Carvalho and Ramos and, to the relief of the crowd, shot into the side-netting. He also drew a challenge for which Pepe was booked, ruling the Real defender out of the second leg, and showed a more unexpected part of his repertoire by evoking Rory Delap with a long throw-in from which Rafael van der Vaart, under heavy pressure from Carvalho, could only shoot weakly at Iker Casillas.

That was to be the Dutchman’s last significant contribution, making way for Jermain Defoe at half-time. No doubt the former Real player will bristle at suffering such an indignity at the Bernabéu, but at least he cannot be admonished for his workrate, having covered more distance than any other player in the first half.

But what use is Van der Vaart when hunting down opponents? He needs the ball and, as an isolated striker, he saw too little of it.

Tottenham needed to give their opponents something to think about early in the second half, but instead Real scored their second goal on 55 minutes. Ronaldo had been back in shoot-on-sight mode, but a clever flick released the excellent Marcelo, whose cross was met by Adebayor with a perfect header that floated beyond the reach of Gomes.

Damage limitation was Tottenham’s only objective, but it proved beyond them. On 72 minutes, Modric lost the ball and Di María, invited infield by a tiring Benoît Assou-Ekotto, took the invitation to hit a sumptuous left-foot shot into the far top corner.

Ronaldo had been desperate for a goal and at the twelfth attempt he got it, his low shot beating an unconvincing Gomes at his near post.

Tottenham supporters have learnt to believe in miracles over the past 12 months, but overturning a 4-0 deficit against a José Mourinho team? No chance.

Rare rushes of blood

• Peter Crouch behaved totally out of character in committing two rash challenges within seven minutes to earn two yellow cards last night.

• The Tottenham Hotspur striker, dismissed in the fifteenth minute against Real Madrid, had not been booked in his previous 78 matches for club and country, a remarkable testimony to his usual self-control on the pitch.

• Crouch is frequently penalised for fouls — so much so that Fabio Capello is reluctant to pick him for England — but these offences tend to be nudges on defenders as he challenges for the ball in the air, rather than bad tackles. Tottenham will miss him through suspension for the return match against Real at White Hart Lane next Wednesday.

Words by Bill Edgar

•Schalke produced a stunning performance to crush Inter Milan, the holders, 5-2 in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final at San Siro.

The Italian side looked to be on course to continue the defence of their title when Manuel Neuer, the Schalke goalkeeper, ran out to head the ball clear in the first minute and Dejan Stankovic calmly volleyed the ball into the net from the halfway line. The German side struck back through Joel Matip, and although Diego Milito briefly restored Inter’s lead, two goals from Edu, one from the veteran, Raúl, and an own goal by Andrea Ranocchia put Schalke in complete control of the tie.

Inter’s night got even worse when Cristian Chivu, their defender, was sent off for his second yellow card midway through the second half. The second leg is next Wednesday.