Spurs finalised their pre-season preparations with defeat to Los Blancos, thanks in no small part to the Welshman
Tottenham continued their preparations for the new season with a 2-0 defeat against Real Madrid.
Jese Rodriguez opened the scoring, before Gareth Bale scored against his old club.
Bale picked up the ball in Spurs' half, had Jan Vertonghen backtracking before unleashing a 20-yard drive into the bottom corner.
But what else caught our man Adrian Kajumba's eye in Munich?
Here are 5 things we learned...
Kane unscathed
In truth, Harry Kane hardly got a kick against Real Madrid as Sergio Ramos and Raphael Varane kept him in check.
But the main thing was nobody kicked him enough to hurt him and he got through his 86 minute run-out unscathed.
As if there is not already enough pressure on Kane's young shoulders, he is the only senior striker they are likely to have to start the season.
Emmanuel Adebayor's move is dragging out but still expected to go through and Roberto Soldado, who didn't travel to Munich, is on his way too.
As it stands, that leaves Kane, who is also likely to be Spurs's vice-captain this season and wore the armband here in Hugo Lloris's absence.
Kane scored a stunner against the MLS All-Stars last week and another sparkling display and goal against Madrid would have given him another big boost going into the new season.
The biggest boost for Spurs though, was that Kane avoided any injury on the eve of the new campaign, especially as neither side were really holding back at the Allianz Arena.
Spurs need Lloris
For a while it looked like Spurs might be okay if Hugo Lloris needed a little more time to recover from his freak broken wrist injury.
Then Madrid scored and it was largely thanks to an error of judgement from Michel Vorm.
Vorm came for Isco's cross, tempted off his line by the tempting in-swinging delivery.
But then he realised he wasn't going to get it, was stuck in no mans land and James Rodriguez nipped into score.
It was a small mistake but it cost Spurs a goal and wouldn't have helped spread confidence among the north Londoners' defence or fans.
And when Vorm was also at fault for Gareth Bale's late clincher the importance of Lloris, who took part in the warmup though notably wasn't using his hands after his summer setback, was underlined.
Before Madrid's Vorm, who was shaky filling in for Lloris last season, looked like he was back to the confident form he showed at Swansea.
He produced an excellent finger-tip stop to deny Isco and then readjusted brilliantly to push away Luka Modric's deflected 25 yarder.
But all his good work was undone when his misjudgment led to Real's opener before letting Bale's late long-ranger slipped through his fingers.
In friendlies, such errors can be brushed off. When the real stuff begins and points are up for grabs, they tend to be costly.
Alli impressive
Dele Alli finished last season playing against Yeovil in League One.
He began this one by making his first start for Tottenham against mighty Real Madrid.
Ex-Spurs star Luka Modric and World Cup winner Toni Kroos were two of the opposing central midfielders he had to keep an eye on.
It would have been easy for the 19 year-old to be overawed.
But one moment in the first-half suggested that that won't be something Alli struggles with as he adjusts to life in the big time.
Receiving the ball under pressure, Alli took a touch to control the ball and another to cheekily knock it through Modric's legs and burst clear.
Alli's nutmeg drew gasps from the crowd and was the highlight of a composed performance from the youngster.
The tall midfielder showed off his passing range with a few inch-perfect long diagonals and was happy to take the responsibility of dropping in between Spurs centre-backs and being their deepest player when they had the ball.
Other than that, Alli kept it safe in his 68 minutes on the pitch. That was no surprise so early in his Spurs career and against opponents who can punish any mistake in a split-second.
But this was a promising start and there is surely much more to come the tall and graceful midfielder.
Big season for Walker
This is a big season for Kyle Walker.
So seeing him look as sharp as he did for most of his run-out against Real was encouraging for Tottenham.
Since winning young player of the year in 2012, Walker has failed to kick on.
Injuries are the main reason and the right-back struggled with them again last season.
He didn't make his first appearance of the season until December and then made his last in April.
Spurs responded by signing Kieran Trippier from Burnley for £3.5m to compete for the right-back spot.
One major thing Trippier offers that Walker has struggled with in recent times is reliability.
He was an ever-present for Burnley in the league last year.
Doubts may remain about Walker and his defending at times and he allowed Isco inside onto his right foot to easily to cross for Real's winner.
But he is an asset going forward with his searing pace and his best attribute looks unaffected by his injury problems.
Walker produced a few eye-catching, trademark, powerful surges from his own half into opposition territory.
He took a couple of knocks as well but, thankfully after his recent injury problems, shook those off too.
If – and it's a big if – Walker can stay fit, he remains capable of being a big asset for Spurs.
Bale through the middle?
It might only be a pre-season tournament but the Audi Cup is a big opportunity for Gareth Bale.
With no Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema in the Real squad this was Bale's chance to shine.
He was handed a central attacking role against his old club Tottenham, which appears to be where new boss Rafa Benitez thinks he will get the most out of him.
For most of the game, the reality was it didn't.
Bale's best asset is his pace and power rather but the central role didn't really allow him to use them.
He roamed around in a free role and worked hard but for most of the games whatever he tried wasn't really coming off and he struggled to influence the game.
But Bale is capable of making an impact at any moment and when Spurs gave him time and space to run at their defence and shoot they paid the price when he made it 2-0 in the 79th minute.
It was the sort of devastating burst and finish we saw many times towards the end of his career at Spurs.
One goal is not enough to say that is now the best place for Bale but it will probably be enough to convince Benitez his experiment is worth persisting with.
Nenhum comentário:
Postar um comentário