Tottenham v AC Milan- Pictures, Videos, Words. The Lot.

Something a bit different today. In honour of us playing AC Milan at home, I thought I’d get a few pictures (I brought my point-and-shoot especially!) and videos (sorry, just the phone on this one) from the walk to White Hart Lane, to the warm ups, to the game action, to the final whistle and beyond. You know, for posterity. Anyway, here are some bits I found camera-worthy.

The pre-game Saveloy and chips, courtesy of the artisans at the Decorata Fish Bar, Willoughby Lane, Tottenham

A pre-game refreshment break at the wonderful Olive Branch on Park Lane

Oh my darlin', you look wonderful, tonight

                                           The 2 teams run through their pre-match warm ups.

AC Milan players warm-up. Even that was half-arsed. At this point, the great GARY MABBUTT! walked past me on his way to the members area. He started walking up the wrong flight of steps, realised his mistake, came back down and walked up the correct set. Quick as a flash, I remarked 'Bet that's the first time you've ever been caught the wrong side, Gary!' I didn't really. Unfortunately this witty rhetort only came to me about 3 seconds afterwards. Always the way, innit? Would have been great though. He'd have instantly declared me his best friend and we'd have gone on holiday together.

Spurs lads playing keep ball. Lesson learnt on watching this: If you've got Modric on your team, you win. At life. Forever.

                                        

The 2 teams walk out with the Champions League football flag-thing going all flappy and the music is playing. Lovely.

I get about, don't I? Too good a pic to not include. Possibly the defining moment of a tense game. I'm sitting up there somewhere.

                My view of Rafa's free kick that hit the top of the net. Oooooooooooooooooh!

Another amazing shot from my camera. Here we see the mighty Sandro with the whole AC Milan midfield and front line in his pocket... It wasn't REALLY taken on my camera you silly's. Courtesy of @mattcg on twitter and make sure you visit his blog http://spursdrawings.posterous.com/ for more Spurs inspired genius.

This is the best video of the lot. It's the last 30 seconds or so of the game when the crowd are singing 'Spurs are on their way to Wembley'. Whistle goes and the crowd goes wild, but keep watching 'til the end for a FANTASTIC 'Are you watching are-se-nal'.



So there we have it. Perhaps not the glory, glory night many, including myself, had been anticipating, but yet another example of how this team isn’t just about the pace of Bale and all the attacking intent that comes along with it. We rode our luck at times, most notably when Gomes had a rush of blood to the head and we needed a goal line clearance from the excellent Gallas to bail us out, but overall, we showed class and grit in equal measure, and only the most blinkered of AC Milan (or goners (not a typo)) could argue that we weren’t the better team over both legs.

Player ratings? Like the first leg, individuals are hard to single out in the team performance we’ve witnessed in both games, but Sandro was excellent again and embodied our spirit over the tie. Gallas and Dawson were both rock solid, and Lennon was a tireless outlet for much of the game and deserves a lot of credit. Also thought Peanut had a good game.

Bit disappointed in Milan in the end. As the clock struck 70, there was a palpable sense that the whole crowd expected an onslaught of epic proportions. It never came. Belief, pace, ideas were all lacking on the night, and the European giant went out with the meekest of whimpers. The bang was all ours.

Many will say that we faced a poor Milan side, but let’s not play down the achievement of beating the 7-time winners. The last word has to go to Harry on this one, after another tactical masterclass. Perfect:

‘’We were playing AC Milan here, not Raggy Arsed Rovers’’