Ronaldo may miss Tottenham tie

By Jide Alaka
April 5, 2011 01:58AM

When Jose Mourinho and his boys file out at the Santiago Bernabeu today, the players may still be thinking about their 0-1 loss to Sporting Gijon on Saturday. Victory and not conceding a crucial away goal to Tottenham will also be one of the challenges facing Real Madrid, including the loss of top goal scorer, Cristiano Ronaldo. The Portuguese captain may miss the game because of a thigh problem even though Mourinho has said the Portuguese star could be risked if the player agrees to play.

Mourinho also just lost his record of not losing a league match at home for nine years to Gijon -so will the Real players be motivated to win this tie that could see them meeting their fiercest rivals, Barcelona in the semi finals? But that is jumping the gun.

Karim Benzema and Marcelo could also miss out, which means that Mourinho must exact the best from his threadbare squad. The good news is that Gonzalo Higuain is back even though he showed signs of rustiness in the match against Gijon.

Tottenham as always will be expected be at their exuberant best in this their first foray into the Champions League quarter finals. They have already beaten AC Milan and Inter Milan but today's match is against the grand heavyweight of the tournament -nine-time winners at one of the hallowed grounds of football - Santiago Bernebeu. Will the players be frightened unto submission or will the atmosphere lift their game?

Left to Harry Redknapp, their manager, this tie holds no fear, apart from the raft of injuries that Spurs are suffering from presently.

Defenders Ledley King, Jonathan Woodgate and Younes Kaboul were joined by Alan Hutton, who needs surgery for a knee injury on the treatment table. There are also doubts over the fitness of William Gallas but Tom Huddlestone and Gareth Bale should be fit.

Inter have to be careful

Still with a shout to reclaim the treble won last season but with the bad result of Saturday still ringing in their ears, the defending champions have the onerous task of facing the competition's remaining under-dog, Schalke 04.

And in Schalke 04 boss Ralf Rangnick, we have a greenhorn, having never coached any team in the knockout stages of the Champions League.

Though they might be high on confidence having beaten Spanish club Valencia 4-2 on aggregate in the round of 16, they have some injury problems, as do Inter, especially in defence. Christoph Metzelder is likely to miss out for Schalke with a broken nose. Mario Gavranovic has an ankle complaint and Peer Kluge picked up an injury in Friday's league match against St Pauli, abandoned after the assistant referee was hit by a cup of beer thrown from the stands.

Brazilian defender Lucio will sit out the match due to suspension and should be replaced by Ivan Cordoba. Andrea Ranocchia, his partner has been showing his inexperience in recent times so it is left to old warhorse - Raul and the speedy Jefferson Farfan to find the gaps.

http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/Sport/Football/5687307-146/story.csp

@OP,
You just wan put Spurs fans for Hope Rising. Abegi

why risk an injured player? Real are as good as qualified anyways.