A return to Champions League!

Well firstly I hope you all like the new blog design - gave it a little face-lift as I think it needed it!

The San Siro could arguably be the venue for our season defining moment. 4-0 down at half time and then a second half resurgence spearheaded by Gareth Bale that culminated in a 4-3 defeat. Although a defeat it gave the team the belief it needed to play the biggest teams, from then on our play in The Champions League has been much more focused. Essentially they believe they can beat anyone which is a fantastic thing to have!

That night in Milan however was a long while back, much has happened since (both good and bad) but either way Spurs will go into this game feeling confident. When they first visited the San Siro they were probably quite over-awed by the occasion which is why they went into half time 4-0 down. That should have been put to bed however and although AC are arguably better than Inter (this year at least) the team will be confident of getting a positive result.

This doesn't necessarily mean a win though, quite frankly I would be happy with a draw - very happy! Especially with that away goal which is all important. I am confident that we will beat them at The Lane so an away goal would be huge! Obviously depending on the final score!

So whats the score with Milan? They are currently top of Serie A - 8 points ahead of Inter who are fourth. They won their last game against Parma 4-0 which will give them a lot of confidence. However before this their form has been a little sketchy. In their previous 8 games they won 3, drew 4 and lost 1. Not the best run really.
However this doesn't mean they should be underestimated.

Their team sheet reads like a who's who in football so it will certainly be a tough game, the good news is that a number of their first choice players will be out - either through injury or being cup tied.
Cassano, Van Bommel and Emanuelson are all cup tied with Pirlo and Ambrosini out through injury - I'm certainly not complaining!

Spurs will quite frankly be fielding a much depleted squad, Bale has been ruled out of the match which is a pain, on the sidelines with him are King, Hudd, Kaboul, Crouch and Jenas. Modric is a doubt but I am feeling quitre confident that he will start - especially after seeing the pictures of him training at the San Siro this evening - see pictures at the bottom.
Van der Vaart has been declared fit which is a relief and therefore will almost certainly start, as Harry said our only two fit center midfielders are Sandro and Palacios - I expect Sandro to start, Palacios depends on Modric's fitness though. My prediction for tomorrow:

                                                                       Gomes
                                                  Corluka - Dawson - Gallas - BAE
                                         Lennon - Sandro - Modric/Palacios - Kranjcar
                                                                    Vdv
                                                                            Pav

I would be surprised to see Defoe start tomorrow, his confidence is really low at the moment and I think Pav will get the nod, his hold up play will be quite important!

This is usually the point where I make a prediction but I'm not going to this time - call me superstitious but i don't want to jinx anything!

One last little treat for you all, Spurs have released the following pictures on Twitter from tonights training session at the San Siro, for those of you that don't use Twitter here they all are! Note Modric looking rather fit - could be a good Omen! By the way - am loving Chelsea drawing tonight, makes it a great weekend for The Spurs!