Harry Kane and Dele Alli reflect on Tottenham's historic European win against Real Madrid

The forward was full of praise for Alli, who admitted after Wednesday's win that he had been counting down the days until he could make his first European appearance of the season

Harry Kane said he loves playing with Dele Alli (Getty)

After bravely drawing 1-1 at the Bernabeu last month, Tottenham Hotspur players and staff studied clips of the game to see where the European champions were vulnerable. They spotted that for all their attacking talent, Real Madrid left gaps at the back. And if Spurs could just be better on the ball, with their final pass, they could exploit those spaces at Wembley.

That is precisely what happened on Wednesday night, as Spurs cut through Real Madrid and the gaps left open by their lazy defending. And the man who made the difference was Dele Alli. He scored the first two goals, started the move for the third, and could have scored another two himself. After spending Spurs’ first three Champions League games out suspended, he was back with a bang on Wednesday.

Harry Kane loves playing with Alli and said afterwards that the 21-year-old had been champing at the bit during his ban to get back on the pitch.

“I think it hurt him he was banned for three games, as it would anyone,” Kane said. “Especially missing big games, against Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid. So you can see he was raring to go tonight, and what a performance from him, he was fantastic, two goals. It is great to have him back in the Champions League. Hopefully he stays calm and we will have him for the rest of the campaign.”

Alli admitted that he was counting down until he could make his first European appearance of the season, nine months after he was sent off against KAA Gent at Wembley, earning that three-game ban. “I was ticking off the games waiting to get back out there,” he said. “I wouldn’t say it affected me, but obviously it’s not nice when you are sat on the side. You want to be out there helping and fighting.”

It has not been an easy start to the season for Alli, who has struggled for rhythm and confidence. But Mauricio Pochettino has always believed in him and he thanked his manager afterwards for that faith and trust. Which is why Spurs now feel as if they can beat anyone in the knock-out stage of the Champions League.

“The way he talks to us in the meetings, he gives us a lot of self-belief,” Alli said. “Tactically we are very strong, we put a lot of trust in the manager and he puts a lot of trust into us, we feel like we can beat everyone.”

The hope at Tottenham must be that this game can help to kick-start Alli’s season now. He gives this team an extra edge and when he is playing well they have another way of hurting opponents. “I have got to keep performing and try to stay in the starting eleven and help team as much as I can,” he said. “I’m happy the team played very well here.”

Suddenly in this newly open Champions League Spurs look like a team opponents would not like to be drawn against. “We don’t think too much about what other clubs think of us,” Alli said. “As a team we are confident in ourselves and whoever we come against we are going to want to beat.”