Tottenham Hotspur 3-1 Real Madrid: 5 Talking Points as Spurs qualify for Round of 16

#4 Spurs make it work despite injury to Toby Alderweireld

Eric Dier put in a tremendous shift as a CDM and then a CB

While Pochettino was happy to have Harry Kane return from a hamstring injury, he was crestfallen to lose another star player to a similar injury.

Less than half an hour into the game, Toby Alderweireld went down with a hamstring problem and he had to be substituted with Eric Dier dropping into defence while Moussa Sissoko came on to play alongside Winks and Christian Eriksen.

The system still worked. With Dier in the centre flanked by Sanchez and Vertonghen, he won 100% of his aerial duels and made 8 clearances (the highest in the game) - all of which were inside the box.

Pochettino will hope Alderweireld's injury is not too serious

Dier's best position is actually in a centre-back role and should England try a system that employs a back-three, the 23-year-old is an ideal fit.

What is also commendable is that Pochettino started five English players (Winks, Dier, Trippier, Kane and Alli) which is essentially most of the core of his team. Add Ben Davies (Wales) and more than half the starting lineup was British.

Dele Alli: MotM vs Real Madrid, Rating 9.33, Shots(OT) 3(2), Goals 2, Key passes 1, Dribbles 5, Tackles 4 pic.twitter.com/GOeSw58L9N

— WhoScored.com (@WhoScored) November 1, 2017