The match was lost in the first 15 minutes. Aaron Lennon taken ill before the match was replaced by Jermaine Jenas, Emmanuel Adebayor had scored, and Spurs were reduced to ten men after Peter Crouch was sent off.
The Spurs striker already on a yellow, in one of the most shockingly bone headed displays earned a second yellow when he needlessly brought down Marcelo. The Brazilian had no qualms milking the foul for all its worth and then celebrated wolfishly at the sight of red. Unseemly as this was, Crouch was solely to blame for his undoing. With him gone the rest of the Spurs did not rise to the occasion.
Van Der Vaart continued his sense of entitlement doing little other than mouthing off at the referees and making no one at the Bernabeu mourn his departure. Gareth Bale, he of the 80m price tag was lost on the right initially but came into his own when Harry Redknapp put him back in his familiar position down the left. But it looked like he was short of match fitness not going out gangbuster on Sergio Ramos. Luka Modric was anonymous. It was left to the Spurs defense to limit the damage but Real were not going to oblige.
Adebayor continued his Spurs slaying ways and added another goal. Angel Di Maria and Cristiano Ronaldo also chipped in. Real had 64% of the possession and 11 shots on goal as compared to Spurs one solitary attempt. It was a one way street.