Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 Real Madrid
The Tottenham Hotspur have advanced to the Audi Cup Finals, courtesy of a timely goal by team captain Harry Kane in what was a relatively sedate match.
Both Tottenham and Real’s participation in the Audi Cup serves as an additional training ground as these teams gear up for the upcoming season. And so far, both of them have experienced contrasting pre-seasons.
Los Blancos have had a worrying pre-season as they continue to struggle in finding their identity – capped off by a humiliating loss against city rivals Atletico Madrid.
Meanwhile, Tottenham have been doing just fine – with a win against Juventus in Singapore and a encouraging effort against Manchester United in Shanghai, China.
Slowly but surely, Mauricio Pochettino is finding a way to maximize his wards without depending too much on Harry Kane and Christian Eriksen – further increasing their Audi Cup 2019 odds of winning it all.
SBOBET brings you the highlights for our match report.
Highlights of the game
From the get-go, the Spurs look fitter, sharper, and more aggressive against the woeful Los Blancos side as they turned up the pressure right away.
However, in just under 50 seconds, Real Madrid almost sneaked in a goal after an errant pass by Tottenham. It was a good thing that Paulo Gazzaniga’s fast reflexes prevented Real with an exquisite slide challenge to kick the ball away from the box.
The Mauricio Pochettino-mentored club controlled possession for majority of the first half — constantly finding ways to pick apart Real Madrid’s defense — which has been suspect in their last few games.
At the same time, Tottenham’s defence has been good in preventing Los Blancos to have a clear shot on target, as shown in the game’s first 15 minutes.
The Spurs’ first real chance came in the 18th minute where Danny Rose let in a lovely pass to Son Heung-Min inside the box, but the latter’s shot was stopped by Keylor Navas.
It didn’t take long for Real Madrid to mess up as Marcelo’s calamitous mishap from an Eden Hazard error gave Harry Kane a sliver of daylight to finally chip one in for Tottenham at the 22nd minute. His crafty maneuver for the goal will surely be in the Audi Cup 2019 highlights.
With Los Blancos’ porous defence, Harry Kane had some cracks at it few minutes later. But his strikes were blocked multiple times by Keylor Navas.
Karim Benzema tried his luck at the 39th minute, but his long range strike came too far wide on the left side. Give credit to the Spurs’ defence for building a wall around the French striker.
Jan Vertonghen attempted to add on to Tottenham’s goal total, but he was called for offside unfortunately to end the first half.
Pochettino made some lineup changes, while Zidane maintained his starting XI to start the second half. Real Madrid finally played with more urgency and fire with Rodrygo and Kubo trying to press for a draw. Navas continued his fine goalkeeping, preventing more chances from Son Hyeung-Min, Harry Kane, and Dele Alli.
Rodrygo put the ball at the back of the net for Los Blancos within the last 20 minutes, but he was called for an offside. Despite the missed opportunity, the 18-year-old prodigy has been a bright spot for Real Madrid as his energy and dribbling caused some problems for Tottenham in this match.
On the other hand, Troy Parrott almost made it 2-0 for the Spurs but his short shot bounced off the post at the 85th minute. Nonetheless, it was a good effort for the Irish forward.
Speaking of good efforts, Erik Lamela has been dazzling for Tottenham with his deft touch and heady passing in this match. The Argentine winger has proved his worth and is looking to compete with Lucas Moura and Dele Alli for a spot on the right wing.
Key statistics
It’s no wonder as to why the Spurs have given Real fits on defence, as they’ve been moving the ball around extremely well with 519 total passes.
Tottenham also had better chances at scoring goals with nine shots on target compared to Real Madrid’s two.
Los Blancos have already lost three of their last four pre-season games and have conceded 13 total goals.
What’s next?
The Spurs are set to face German powerhouse Bayern Munich for the pocket tournament’s championship.
Real Madrid will go up against Fenerbahce in a battle for third place at the Allianz Arena, and they will fly to Austria to face RB Salzburg on Wednesday next week.
●●●
CHECK OUT OUR BLOG FOR MORE FOOTBALL STORIES & ODDS
Stay updated with everything sports and betting.
Follow us on social Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
