Peter Crouch has amusingly claimed that Tottenham must avoid going down to 10 men to stand a chance against Real Madrid in the Champions League.
Spurs have been drawn alongside the 2016-17 Champions League winners Real Madrid, as well as Borussia Dortmund and APOEL Nicosia in Group H of the competition.
Tottenham last faced Real Madrid in the 2010-11 Champions League quarter-finals, which saw Crouch receive his marching orders for two yellow card tackles on Sergio Ramos and Marcelo in the 15th minute.
Spurs went on to lose the game 4-0 and Crouch claimed on his personal Twitter account that his former side have a “great chance” against Zinedine Zidane’s side if they “don’t have an idiot sent off early”.
Real Madrid for spurs . If they don't have an idiot sent off early they have a great chance
— Peter Crouch (@petercrouch) August 24, 2017
Spurs lost the game 4-0, thanks to goals from Cristiano Ronaldo and Angel Di Maria as well as brace from Emmanuel Adebayor before losing the return leg 1-0 through another Ronaldo strike.
Mauricio Pochettino’s side will be hoping to go one better this time round and reach the knockout stages of the competition, after failing to finish in the top two of a group consisting of Bayer Leverkusen, CSKA Moscow and Monaco last season.
Spurs will play their home matches at Wembley once again, despite some stating that the move to the home of English football last season hindered their performances last term.
OPINION
Tottenham will have done incredibly well if they win qualification into the knockout rounds of the tournament after being drawn against Real and Dortmund, while APOEL are not expected to pick up any points against the three sides. Spurs should look to do all they can in their clashes against Peter Bosz’s Dortmund, with those matches likely be crucial in the race to finish second in group H. Real should finish at the top of the group, as they sit at the pinnacle of European football right now, in what will be a massive test for the north London giants. But if Spurs can secure a priceless win against Dortmund, they have a real chance of reaching the last 16.