Real Madrid dropped points at home in the Champions League as they were held to a 1-1 draw by a battling Tottenham Hotspur on Tuesday.
See how the action unfolded at the Santiago Bernabeu with Football Espana's liveblog!
Tottenham took the lead through Raphael Varane's own goal, before Madrid levelled just before half-time thanks to a Cristiano Ronaldo penalty, but the visitors survived a barrage of Blancos pressure and forced Keylor Navas into two late stops.
Luka Modric started against his former team, taking his place in Madrid’s midfield, but Gareth Bale did not after yet another calf injury ruled him out. Dani Carvajal was also absent due to an ongoing heart problem, resulting in another appearance for teenager Achraf Hakimi at right-back.
Tottenham, meanwhile, sprang a surprise in their XI as Fernando Llorente partnered man-of-the-moment Harry Kane up top, but Dele Alli, Victor Wanyama and Mousa Dembele were all missing from their midfield.
These two sides last met competitively in the 2010-11 Champions League, when Madrid beat Spurs 4-0 on aggregate in the quarter-finals.
Spurs tried their best to peg Madrid back with the high press from the off, but Los Blancos nonetheless dominated possession.
Achraf, a bright spark throughout, was found completely unmarked down the far left, and the teenager volleyed a cross back into the Lilywhites’ box for Ronaldo, whose header smacked the post, before Karim Benzema scuffed the rebound wide.
Ronaldo then flashed an angled strike inches wide of Hugo Lloris’ goal after some slick interchanging, before Keylor pulled off a fine, instinctive stop to tip over Kane’s header.
That Kane chance prompted an improvement from Spurs and subsequently the opening goal as Varane netted his first-ever own goal for Madrid, deflecting Serge Aurier’s low cross over Keylor and into the back of his net.
Aurier almost doubled the visitors’ lead moments later, when he blasted a low drive towards Keylor’s bottom left, but the goalkeeper managed to get a hand to it.
However, the right-back soon went from hero to villain as his desperate challenge brought down Toni Kroos in Tottenham’s box, allowing Ronaldo to send Lloris the wrong way from the penalty spot.
Madrid regained their grip on the game in the second half, but Benzema’s header was somehow kept out by the legs of Lloris, despite the custodian going in the opposite direction to the ball.
Harry Winks brought much-needed composure to Spurs’ play, but the youngster gifted Ronaldo a breakaway chance, only for the Frenchman to tip over his explosive volley.
The No 7 then sped his way towards Madrid’s box, trying to force the issue, but his daisy-cutter was pushed away by Lloris.
The tables suddenly turned and it was Keylor keeping Los Merengues in the game, the Costa Rican somehow tipping Kane’s one-on-one finish around the post.
Eriksen was quickly found unmarked to the right of Keylor’s goal, but his volley was turned over the bar, before Davinson Sanchez sent a bullet header just wide from the corner.
Madrid made a late switch to 4-3-3 as Isco made way for Lucas Vazquez, but the change proved futile as Tottenham picked up a memorable point on their travels.
Real Madrid 1-1 Tottenham Hotspur
Ronaldo pen 43 (RM) Varane og 28 (TH)
Real Madrid: Keylor; Achraf, Varane, Ramos, Marcelo; Modric, Casemiro, Kroos; Isco (Vazquez 87); Benzema (Asensio 87), Ronaldo
Tottenham Hotspur: Lloris; Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Davinson; Aurier, Sissoko (Son 89), Dier, Winks, Eriksen; Kane, Fernando Llorente (Rose 80)
Referee: Marciniak (POL)
