Spurs' European adventure fizzles out

Champions League round up: Tottenham 0 Real Madrid 1 (Real win 5-0 on agg): Tottenham’s unforgettable Champions League adventure…

Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes fumbles Cristiano Ronaldo’s shot to give Real Madrid the lead at White har Lane. – (Photograph: Stefan Wermuth/Reuters)
Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes fumbles Cristiano Ronaldo’s shot to give Real Madrid the lead at White har Lane. – (Photograph: Stefan Wermuth/Reuters)

Champions League round up: Tottenham 0 Real Madrid 1 (Real win 5-0 on agg):Tottenham's unforgettable Champions League adventure ultimately ended with a whimper tonight as another howler from Heurelho Gomes handed Real Madrid victory at White Hart Lane and a mouth-watering semi-final clash against Barcelona.

Trailing 4-0 from last week’s quarter-final first leg, Spurs tried to prove this evening’s return match was anything but a dead rubber and saw three first-half penalty appeals snubbed by referee Nicola Rizzoli.

Cristiano Ronaldo rubbed salt into the wound when Gomes spilt the forward’s 30-yard strike into his own net early in the second half.

Emmanuel Adebayor, who was at the centre of a race row following chanting by Tottenham fans at the Bernabeu, was jeered when his name was read out over the public address. Fans were also warned they would be ejected if they repeated the abuse.

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Their ire was directed at referee Rizzoli in the opening six minutes after being twice denied penalties, with Xabi Alonso deemed not to have tripped Gareth Bale and Luka Modric to have fallen over the former Liverpool midfielder’s leg.

Real were showing no signs of sitting back and Ozil tested Gomes but Bale was threatening the kind of performance that saw him shoot to worldwide fame against Inter Milan, teasing the Madrid defence down the left side.

It was almost impossible to take your eyes off what was a pulsating game and Sami Khedira screwed a shot wide.

Tottenham wasted a great chance to take the lead in the 27th minute when Rafael van der Vaart released Aaron Lennon, whose cutback was blazed over by Roman Pavlyuchenko.

The Russian was at the centre of Spurs’ third rejected penalty appeal moments later when he appeared to be tripped by Raul Albiol.

Tom Huddlestone was unable to finish on the turn following a long throw-in before a bizarre incident that saw Khedira accidentally headbutted by team-mate Albiol.

Gomes was at full stretch to claw away a looping Sergio Ramos header before Bale had the ball in the net but Modric was rightly ruled offside nodding the ball down.

Ricardo Carvalho then ruled himself out of a potential semi-final against Barcelona when he saw yellow for felling Huddlestone.

Spurs tried to maintain their first-half tempo after the break but no-one could have foreseen the aberration that saw them fall behind in the 50th minute.

Ronaldo unleashed a trademark 30-yard top-spin drive but Gomes failed to get his whole body behind the ball and it squirmed through his fingers and into the net.

Madrid were in total command and they withdrew Ramos for Esteban Granero.

Pavlyuchenko was grateful to be offside nodding Van der Vaart’s cross onto the roof of the net and Modric also looped a header over.

Jermain Defoe made an instant impact after replacing Lennon with just under half an hour remaining, Iker Casillas palming his fizzing 25-yard effort behind.

Kaka came on for Ronaldo and his first pass released Khedira, who fell over in the box before the Brazilian’s long-range shot almost forced another Gomes mistake.

Sandro replaced Huddlestone for the final 19 minutes and Defoe was unable to produce a finish from the tightest of angles following a looped corner.

Karim Benzema came on for Alonso before Spurs’ penalty appeals began to get farcical, Sandro going down far too easily after bursting into the box.

Marcelo almost chipped Gomes from the edge of the box before Granero was needlessly booked.

The outstanding Modric was replaced late on by Niko Kranjcar as Spurs’ fans remained in good voice at the end of what had been an amazing Champions League campaign.

And they almost had a goal to celebrate when Defoe’s stoppage-time shot was blocked.

Schalke 2 Inter Milan 1 (Schalke win 7-3 on agg):With Alex Ferguson looking on from the stands, Schalke completed a comprehensive dismantling of the reigning champions in Gelsenkirchen to set up a semi-final clash against Manchester United.

Having crushed Inter 5-2 in Milan last week, the Germans dashed any lingering Italian hopes and secured their first last four appearance when Champions League record scorer Raul slotted in on the stroke of half-time for his 71st goal in Europe's top competition.

Inter equalised early in the second half when Brazil-born Italy international Thiago Motta scrambled the ball over the line from close range, but Benedikt Hoewedes raced clear to fire Schalke's winner nine minutes from time.