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Tottenham Hotspur beat defending champions Real Madrid 3-1 at Wembley on Wednesday night in what was a thrilling encounter in the Champions League group stages. A brace from Dele Alli and a goal from Christian Eriksen saw the Spurs seal their progress to the Round of 16 with two games to spare.
This was the first time Real Madrid had ever played at Wembley and judging by their performance, they are yet to truly turn up there. Cristiano Ronaldo scored a consolation goal with 10 minutes to go but Spurs were well and truly in control by then.
Here are the key talking points from the game.
#1 Real find it difficult to break down Spurs' compact shape
As soon as the team sheets came out, it was evident that the two teams would line up with completely different formations. Real boss Zinedine Zidane chose to go with a 4-3-3 while Spurs' Mauricio Pochettino went with an unorthodox 3-5-2 formation.
With Jan Vertonghen, Davinson Sanchez, and Toby Alderweireld in the back-three, Pochettino deployed Kieran Trippier and Ben Davies as wing-backs.
But whenever the home side lost possession, both wing-backs would immediately track back and help the centre-backs form a compact back-five. The result saw Real Madrid starved of space in the final third.
It forced Ronaldo to switch wings when he found no way past Alderweireld on the left but Vertonghen was equal to the task on the other side.
With no way to go through, Real resorted to shots from distance, hoping to get a shot off any rebound should Hugo Lloris spill the ball but the French goalkeeper was assured in goal as Real took 9 shots from outside the box.
#2 Spurs' first goal was offside but it was always coming
Tottenham scored the opening goal in the 27th minute but there was a controversy over whether the goal should have stood. When Kieran Trippier made the run on the right side of the box, he was clearly a foot offside.
It is a tough call for a linesman to make as the pass was made 36 yards from goal while Trippier was in full sprint. But once he did receive the ball, Alli split the two centre-backs to put away the cross.
But the warning signs were clear. It wasn't the first cross of the night from Spurs. Trippier had already put in a lethal cross across goal that Spurs failed to put away while even Jan Vertonghen had managed to get up field and put one in from the opposite flank - only to be thwarted before an unmarked Harry Kane pounced on it.
Pochettino had instructed his forwards to attack the large gap between the two Real centre-backs - Nacho and Sergio Ramos.
Whether it was Alli or Kane, the two made some potentially productive runs into the centre of the box and Trippier could have actually walked away with a hat-trick of assists if things had gone according to plan.
#3 Real Madrid's midfield and attack were anonymous
What really caused Real Madrid's downfall was their lack of incisiveness in midfield against Spurs. Casemiro, Toni Kroos, and Luka Modric started in midfield while Isco started the game as a wide forward.
But as the game wore on, Real were unable to penetrate Spurs' defence and, as a result, Isco dropped into midfield to form a 4-4-2 diamond to helcreate chances with Ronaldo and Karim Benzema feeding on scraps.
Benzema finished the game with just two shots on goal - one from range that was saved by Lloris and another from inside the box that was off target. Ronaldo had seven shots on goal of which only two were threatening - one that was hit straight at Lloris and the second from which he scored via a deflection.
Casemiro had a poor night where he was dribbled past a few times and it was only exacerbated by a comedic fall with nobody pulling him back.
Luka Modric's game was a story of two halves as he initially looked like he was in control against his former team before he fell apart in the second half as Spurs' Harry Winks bossed the midfield. Winks even displayed his passing range with the pass that set Spurs on their way in the counter-attack for the third goal.
The Croatian midfielder, on the other hand, was only able to make one key pass in the 81 minutes he played before he was hooked off by Zidane.
#4 Spurs make it work despite injury to Toby Alderweireld
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.
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.
#5 Keylor Navas is sorely missed by Real Madrid
More than Gareth Bale, it is Keylor Navas that Zidane needs back in the squad as soon as possible. Kiko Casilla has played five times this season already and has only kept one clean sheet (against Eibar who are hovering over the drop zone in La Liga).
His weaknesses have been highlighted many times this season and the match against Spurs was no different. He may be over 6'3" tall but he does not have a commanding presence in the box.
For the first goal, the cross was sent straight into the six-yard box and he should have been better positioned to collect the cross instead of being in two minds - collect the cross or make the save?
Ultimately he was neither in a position to grab the cross nor stop Alli's shot as he floundered at the near post. One could even point to that same hesitancy that allowed Eriksen to score the third but there were other culprits who gifted Spurs too much space for a counter-attack.
Real's defence has never been so exposed as it has been in the past couple of games. There seems to be no communication and nobody to marshall the back-line. Navas' assured presence is a big miss for Real.
