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Ronaldo gives Gomes nightmares

Tottenham were unable to produce the miracle required to overcome Real Madrid as they exited the Champions League with a quarter-final second leg defeat thanks to Heurelho Gomes’ second-half clanger.

• Mourinho defends team selection

Gomes has been a pillar of the club’s domestic and European campaigns this year, but his failure to hang on to Cristiano Ronaldo’s routine 30-yard drive ensured that any chance Spurs had of coming back from the four-goal deficit they accrued in the Bernabeu were over in the 50th minute.

Spurs threw everything they had at their highly-decorated opponents in the first half and had two convincing penalty appeals turned down.

Gareth Bale, Aaron Lennon and Roman Pavlyuchenko all excelled, but their efforts were not enough to give Spurs fans one more memorable night to add to their collection this year and Madrid and Jose Mourinho will now get the chance to prove they are Europe’s best as they take on Barcelona in the last four.

The defeat brought to and end a dream debut season in the Champions League in which Tottenham have won the hearts of many a neutral thanks to the enterprising football which had seen them tear apart Inter Milan and brush past their neighbours AC Milan to make the last eight.

Rarely has a team making their first appearance in the Champions League had such a successful bow, and should they qualify for next year’s tournament, they will be confident of mixing it with Europe’s giants again.

There will, however, be a nagging thought at the back of Harry Redknapp’s mind that his team could have had the better of the nine-time champions had it not been for Peter Crouch’s reckless first-leg dismissal and Gomes’ error in tonight’s second leg.

Footage of Bale’s hat-trick in the club’s 4-3 defeat against Inter Milan greeted their supporters as they took their seats looking for their team to give them another historic European night.

The three goals the Welshman fired in at the San Siro would not be enough to even take this tie to extra-time though after last week’s 4-0 hammering at the Bernabeu.

Mourinho warned that his team had come to London to score and they looked as if they meant business early on, with Ronaldo, Mesut Ozil and first leg hero Emmanuel Adebayor all probing the Tottenham backline.

Spurs looked equally intent on breaking the deadlock though and Bale thought he should have had a penalty in the fourth minute as he skipped by Xabi Alonso and fell to the ground. Referee Nicola Rizzoli waved play on and replays suggested he was right to do so.

Four minutes later and Alonso clipped Luka Modric in the box. The Italian referee once again denied the home side a spot-kick despite the claim looking to be legitimate. The pace of Bale and Lennon caused Madrid problems, with Sergio Ramos and Marcelo both found floundering in the early exchanges.

The home crowd urged their side on, but Ronaldo reminded them of the threat he posed as he danced past his marker before firing wide after 20 minutes.

At the other end, Rafael van der Vaart executed a brilliant turn to unleash Lennon down the right. His pass found Pavlyuchenko but he blazed over to waste a great opportunity to break the deadlock.

The Russian made amends by gaining an inch on Raul Albiol moments later only to be tripped by the defender in the box. The referee waved play on and Spurs were denied yet another spot-kick, much to the home fans’ anger.

Tottenham thought they had the goal they craved just before half-time but Modric was correctly ruled offside after he had headed back to Bale, who smashed home into the net.

The tie was effectively over in the fifth minute of the second half when Gomes let Ronaldo’s 30-yard drive slip through his fingers. The Brazilian swivelled and tried to claw the ball away before it crossed the line but the damage had already been done. Any slim hopes Spurs harboured of salvaging the tie were gone.

Redknapp brought Jermain Defoe on for Lennon and he almost scored within moments of taking the pitch, drawing a good diving save from Iker Casillas.

The fierce atmosphere that had been prevalent before the opener had disappeared after Gomes’ error, but the keeper did well to keep out Kaka in the 65th minute after the Brazilian had come on for Ronaldo.

The chants of “we’re gonna win 6-1” showed the Tottenham fans still had faith and they almost equalised when Defoe’s strike was blocked by Casillas from just two yards out.

Sandro collapsed inside the Madrid box under pressure from Alvaro Arbeloa as Spurs’ bid for an equaliser continued but with substitutes Karim Benzema and Kaka in full flight down the other end, the hosts were in danger of slipping further behind.

Marcelo almost made it 2-0 when his audacious chip landed on top of Gomes’ goal as the clock ticked towards 90 minutes. Van der Vaart attempted to curl a 20-yard strike in against his old club with five minutes left, but Casillas watched his effort sail over the bar. Bale then drifted past his marker to lay off to Defoe in injury time but a block denied Spurs the equaliser they were searching so desperately for.

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Schalke to face Man Utd in semi showdown

Schalke set up a Champions League semi-final encounter with Manchester United after beating Inter Milan for the second time in a week.

Following last Tuesday’s emphatic 5-2 victory in Italy, it was the talismanic Raul and defender Benedikt Howedes who scored the goals which rubber-stamped Schalke’s advance to the final four of the competition – winning 2-1 in their second leg to secure a 7-3 aggregate triumph.

Inter failed to create anywhere near enough chances to bring about the unlikely comeback the defending European champions were hoping to achieve, only Thiago Motta managing to get his name on the scoresheet.

The first half was a cagey affair as the home side seemed happy to soak up Inter pressure and attack when possible.

Samuel Eto’o had to drop deep right from the start of the game to get the ball as Schalke’s defence would not give an inch. Inter were restricted to efforts from distance as Wesley Sneijder’s third-minute strike, which was easily saved, set the tone for the first 30 minutes.

Raul showed great movement to beat his man to the ball after 16 minutes, but his header was tame.

Inter had a string of corners just before the midway point of the first half but couldn’t test Manuel Neuer in the Schalke goal until Dejan Stankovic’s 25-yard effort after 35 minutes was tipped away by the diving German goalkeeper.

Maicon also had a chance to give Inter the lead but he could not connect with Stankovic’s floated cross.

Raul then made Inter pay for their inability to create worthwhile chances by scoring clinically on the stroke of half-time.

The Inter defence seemed to part and allow the impressive Jose Manuel Jurado to slide a ball straight into the path of the unmarked Raul, who showed great composure to round Julio Cesar and slot home his 71st Champions League goal.

Inter, who changed shape at the interval by bringing on Goran Pandev for Stankovic, pulled a goal back four minutes into the second half when a deep Sneijder corner was headed goalwards by Lucio and bundled home by Motta from four yards out.

Schalke then had several opportunities to put the tie to bed once and for all.

Firstly Kyriakos Papadopoulos was left free in the area but his header was high over Cesar’s crossbar, then only two minutes later defender Howedes converted after a well-worked short corner routine, but the goal was ruled out for a debatable offside.

Another headed opportunity was then missed by Papadopoulos as the home side started to exert control of the game.

Inter had a good spell of possession but again they could not create any clear-cut chances to take the lead on the night, Diego Milito and Eto’o both limited to efforts from outside the box which caused no problems for Neuer.

Sneijder was then withdrawn with 10 minutes remaining as Leonardo seemingly accepted defeat.

That outcome was sealed a minute later as Howedes this time scored a legitimate goal as he continued a run and was found with a fantastic lofted ball from Raul before hammering past Cesar from the edge of the box.

The game then petered out as Schalke sat back and allowed Inter possession, but the visitors still couldn’t force the issue as they knew they were on the verge of losing their grip of the Champions League trophy.

Only Milito forced Neuer into action before the final whistle confirmed Schalke’s memorable victory over the Italian giants.

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Real and Schalke go through

Tottenham made an admirable attempt to salvage their Champions League campaign on Wednesday, but Real Madrid secured a 1-0 victory at White Hart Lane to triumph 5-0 on aggregate in order to set up a semi-final showdown with Barcelona.

Spurs’ European adventure has been filled with memorable chapters ever since they recovered from a 3-0 deficit against Young Boys in the qualifying stages, with victories against Inter Milan and AC Milan the highlights of a remarkable debut season. However, the 4-0 drubbing suffered in the first leg at the Bernabeu set up mission impossible, and Heurelho Gomes committed yet another inexplicable blunder to allow Cristiano Ronaldo to kill the tie off after 50 minutes.

Roman Pavlyuchenko led the line in the absence of the suspended Peter Crouch in North London, and Spurs quickly got the home crowd embroiled in a pulsating contest, twice sparking early penalty shouts. The first was a show of mere desperation from Gareth Bale, who went down extremely easily in an attempt to win a spot-kick from Xabi Alonso, but Luka Modric looked like he had a better claim moments later.

The best of the bunch was still to follow though as Pavlyuchenko went down under a clear trip from Raul Albiol, only for the referee to once again remain unmoved. Moments before that, Pavlyuchenko had nobody but himself to blame as he blazed a glorious chance over following a super cut-back from Aaron Lennon.

Spurs were certainly worthy of an opening goal, and they thought they had found one when Bale rifled home a volley, only to see the flag raised against Modric, who had provided the nod down. Nevertheless, Madrid were under sustained pressure and a rash challenge from Ricardo Carvalho earned a booking that rules him out of the first leg against Barcelona.

Spurs needed to maintain the same intensity in the second half, but Gomes had been the villain with a poor mistake for Madrid’s fourth in the first leg, and he repeated the crime with a quite embarrassing piece of goalkeeping to silence White Hart Lane five minutes after half-time. Ronaldo tried his luck from 25 yards, and Gomes managed to spill a simple catch over his right shoulder in calamitous fashion.

Still Harry Redknapp’s side had chances as Pavlyuchenko sent another glorious opportunity over, before substitute Jermain Defoe struck an upright as Spurs departed in respectable fashion.

Schalke will provide Manchester United’s semi-final opposition after they beat Inter Milan 2-1 to advance 7-3 on aggregate. The Bundesliga club had taken a staggering 5-2 first-leg advantage from their away leg at the San Siro, and Inter never looked like staging a comeback in Gelsenkirchen.

Former Real Madrid striker Raul was the man to kill the tie on the stroke of half-time, producing a typically classy finish for his 71st Champions League goal. The former Spain forward latched onto a slide-rule pass before rounding Julio Cesar in trademark fashion to slot home with his right foot.

Inter rallied in the second period when Thiago Motta stabbed home at a corner five minutes after half-time, but Benedikt Howedes drove home late on to cement a meeting with United in front of the watching Sir Alex Ferguson.

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