Tottenham had another rollercoaster campaign in which they tasted the glory of Champions League football but at the end just failed to secure another crack among the big boys. The most important game of the season came just a week after it started and for 45 minutes, Spurs looked to have undone their hard work of getting into the Champions League play-offs as they were losing 3:0 away at Young Boys. Despair turned to jubilation after Spurs pulled two goals back and then won 4:0 in the return leg to seal a place in the groups. Naturally, the league became secondary with games against Inter Milan and Werder Bremen approaching and the domestic form was patchy in the early months. However, the team was inspired by the brilliance of Rafael van der Vaart and Gareth Bale and remained close to the top spots. Bale entered the folklore with an unbelievable hat-trick away at Inter that was still not enough for a point in the CL game but handed the team a real sense of belief that they can do great things. From that point on, Tottenham regained confidence in their abilities and at times were unplayable for the next few months. They swept the Italian side at home with another masterclass by Bale and then won 3:2 away at Arsenal after being two goals down. The fans were in dreamland and a strong unbeaten run around Christmas made Harry Redknapp claim that his side will be battling for the title. It was always going to be premature talk and once Bale and Van der Vaart lost their momentum, the team faltered in the early weeks of January. Still, they pulled together for one more big performance to win 1:0 away at AC Milan and make it into the quarter-finals of the Champions League. However, a long two-month run without a win in the league meant their hopes of Champions League football for next season were fading fast. Real showed no mercy in beating Spurs 5:0 on aggregate and the last few weeks of the campaign provided a reality check with the team limping towards the finishing line before eventually winning their last two games and making sure they finish fifth. It was a season that provided superb entertainment but also exposed Spurs' frailties both at the back and up front where all the strikers badly unperformed.
