Harry – Forget Real loss

Harry Redknapp insists Real Madrid’s loss at the weekend will have no bearing on this week’s UEFA Champions League quarter-final first leg.

The Tottenham boss sent coaches Tim Sherwood and Les Ferdinand to check on Los Merengues as they suffered a shock 1-0 loss at home to Sporting Gijon.

But Redknapp admits he is not readying anything into Real’s shock loss ahead of Spurs’ game at the Bernabeu on Tuesday.

“I’m not at all fooled by the result. I’ve not watched the game on TV yet and to be honest I’m not sure it’ll tell me all that much,” Redknapp wrote in The Sun.

“Jose rested so many players that he’s showed his hand at what his priority is this season – winning a third Champions League title with his third different club.

“What an achievement that would be, you have to admit.

“No Xabi Alonso, Pepe, Karim Benzema. Tuesday’s team will bear no resemblance to the one that played on Saturday.

“We had Tim Sherwood and Les Ferdinand there watching for us and they’ve told me basically the same thing.

“So there was no point in me spending all day Sunday worried sick about the game or rubbing my hands together because Jose’s lost his first home match since 2002.

“This is going to be a landmark game for Tottenham.”

Turnaround

Redknapp cannot help looking back on his time in charge at White Hart Lane which has seen a huge turnaround from relegation candidates to European contenders.

He added: “It’s two-and-a-half years since I took over eight games into the 2009 season with them bottom of the Premier League.

“Now we’re going to play in the quarter-finals of the Champions League at Real Madrid. And we’ve done it with largely the same group of players who were there when I walked in that Sunday morning to take the team against Bolton Wanderers that very afternoon.”

Despite the hype, Redknapp insists he will be demanding a performance from his side.

“Matches like this one don’t come round very often, so we should make the most of it. We are massive underdogs and rightly so. Everyone keeps telling me to enjoy it, enjoy it,” he said.

“But I won’t be able to unless we play well. As a manager that’s all that really concerns you. Yes, it’ll be great to walk out with Tottenham at the Bernabeu Stadium. But if we let ourselves down, there’s no enjoyment in that is there?

“We’ve done our best to get the maximum out of the players we have got – and hopefully they’ll respond on Tuesday night.

“I’ve also been asked if it will be my best achievement as a manager to lead the team out there.

“But I’m a grounded sort of bloke. Every step of the way in my career I’ve had some great moments – and they don’t have to be surrounded by glitter to mean more to me.”