Congratulations Tottenham fans, this is what the Champions League is all about. Winning important games in front of sell-out, raucous crowds thanks to the individual exploits of a couple of star players... who will then quickly be targetted by the competition's true heavyweights.
It is, as many clubs have found in the past, very much a double-edged sword. Spurs may be in a more financially favourable position to reject multi-million pound bids for their major assets than in seasons past, but after an ominous start to the domestic season from Manchester City and the rest of last season's top three, a successive qualification for Europe's most lucrative competition looks another major challenge.And, with a player so clearly at home at the highest level as Gareth Bale, it is hardly a surprise to learn, as Goal.com UK exclusively have, that Manchester United are intent on capturing the player next summer — even if they might face competition from Jose Mourinho and Real Madrid.
Just two (proper) games into his Champions League career, the young Welshman looks perfectly at home at the game's highest level. In his first game he was impressive despite Spurs failing to capitalise on a 2-0 lead in Germany against Werder Bremen, and then on Wednesday at White Hart Lane he tore apart FC Twente's shell-shocked defence with breathtaking ease.
And that's without highlighting his domestic form, which he has built on from the back-end of last season to see him become an almost unstoppable threat whenever he is given license to push forward.
It's his skill-set, as much as his current form, that will have admiring suitors queuing around the block. Rampaging up and down the left flank, Bale assumes a position that has traditionally been hard to fill. Able to play full-back — even if, to offer some criticism, he does need to work on his defensive prowess — this season the 21-year-old has proven himself a nightmare to play against from a roaming left-wing position. His pace and power has all-too often proved too much for opposing right-backs, and the number of free-kicks and penalties he has won, along with the chances and goals he has created, only serve to illustrate that fact.
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