Mourinho: Crouch let Spurs down
Reuters - Wednesday 06 April 2011, 08:06
MADRID - Tottenham striker Peter Crouch's
red card in Tuesday's Champions League quarter-final first leg
at Real Madrid has ended Spurs' chances, Real coach Jose
Mourinho said.
The nine-times winners ruthlessly punished the England
striker's indiscipline, crushing the Premier League side 4-0
after he was sent off in the 15th minute following two bookings
for lunging tackles.
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The La Liga giants are completely in control of the tie
ahead of next week's second leg and will play great rivals and
2009 winners Barcelona or Shakhtar Donetsk of Ukraine in the
semi-finals barring a miracle in North London.
"Peter should have controlled himself better having already
been booked," Mourinho said at a post-match news conference.
"We had one team completely stuck at the back without any
chance of responding," added the Portuguese, Champions League
winner last season with Inter Milan and in 2004 with Porto.
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"The game could have been completely different and it's a
bit sad as I prefer authentic football matches."
Real's resounding victory at a festive Bernabeu was the
perfect tonic for Mourinho's side after their bid to end Barca's
two-year reign as Spanish champions foundered at home to
Sporting Gijon on Saturday.
Former Arsenal striker Emmanuel Adebayor, on loan from
Manchester City, netted two headers, winger Angel Di Maria
blasted in a superb strike from wide on the right and Cristiano
Ronaldo grabbed a late fourth with a fine volley.
TEN OUT OF TEN
Adebayor has now scored 10 times against Spurs in 10
matches, eight in nine games with their arch north London rivals
Arsenal and two in one appearance with Real, but told reporters
he was unaware he had been such a thorn in Spurs' side.
"I didn't know about my record against them and I don't
really care," the Togo international said.
"I am very happy when I play against Spurs as I always have
a chance to score, so now we have to concentrate on the second
game to go through to the semi-finals."
The lanky striker said of his future at Real: "I just have
to keep working hard every day in training. I have two months to
go and the club will decide what they want to do.
"They brought me here to help with the run-in to the end of
season. Today I have done that well. But you know in football
what you have done is already in the past."
Spurs centre back William Gallas, another former Arsenal
player who also had a stint under Mourinho at Chelsea, said the
4-0 defeat was possibly the worst of his career.
"It's very difficult to accept it, especially for a
defender," the France international told reporters.
"Now we have to forget about what happened tonight and think
about the next game. "We have to score 5 goals -- anything can
happen."