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Tottenham defence in Real tatters

Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp is facing up to the prospect of taking on one of the most feared attacks with just two fit central defenders.

Just five days ahead of the club's Champions League quarter-final first leg against Real Madrid, Spurs have been plunged into an injury crisis in defence.

Redknapp revealed that club captain Ledley King requires a second operation on the groin problem that has kept him out of action since October, while William Gallas suffered a knee injury that could rule him out of Tuesday's game at the Bernabeu.

With Younes Kaboul out with a thigh strain and Jonathan Woodgate sidelined by a calf injury, Redknapp only has Michael Dawson and Sebastien Bassong fit to play at Wigan this weekend.

With the biggest match in the club's history against a Real Madrid team consisting of the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema just around the corner, Redknapp admits his defensive troubles are a big concern to him.

"We started the year with six central defenders here. Now we have two," Redknapp told Sky Sports News.

"We have lost Ledley King, it looks like he will have to have an operation that will finish his season.

"Jonathan Woodgate was making good progress but got a calf injury in a friendly against Barnet and Younes Kaboul is still out with a thigh strain.

"William Gallas has been for a scan on his knee today. He struggled at the weekend and we are now down to having just Michael Dawson and Sebastien Bassong."

Redknapp is also desperately waiting to hear whether Gareth Bale will be fit for Tuesday's match in the Spanish capital.

The 21-year-old withdrew from Wales' squad to face England with a hamstring strain and is now a major doubt for the club's next two matches.

The Welshman, who has played a big part in getting Tottenham to the quarter-finals, had only just recovered from a back injury before picking up his latest knock.

Redknapp plans to leave a decision on whether the star winger will play until the last minute.

"Gareth worked with the fitness coaches and he looked OK this morning," Redknapp added.

"Whether he is OK to play two games this weekend is doubtful.

"We will have a look at that tomorrow and decide which way to go with it.

"We are going to leave it late. We'd love to have him fit but if he isn't fit then we can't play him."

The Spurs boss is confident that his side will be able to give Real a good match in Spain even if Bale does not play next week.

"We have other good players here who can play on the left," Redknapp said.

"Niko Kranjcar has just gone off and had a couple of games for Croatia. Steven Pienaar is fit now too."

There was better news for the club with regard to Aaron Lennon's fitness. The winger pulled out of England's game against Ghana with a hamstring injury but Tottenham are confident that he will be fit for Saturday's game at the DW Stadium.

"Aaron is OK. He trained this morning. There isn't any problem with him," Redknapp said.

"He met up with England and stayed with them for 10 days, felt his hamstring was tight and we didn't want to risk him going so he pulled out of the squad."

Redknapp believes that the international break and the way that the fixtures have been set up for his side this weekend have left the club struggling to prepare for Tuesday's showdown with the nine-time European champions.

"We only had two senior players training last week. All the others came back this morning," Redknapp added.

"Five of them played 90 minutes on Tuesday night, Gallas went for a scan this morning. One or two of them have little niggles.

"It's a nightmare. You can't come out here this morning and start thinking about how we are going to beat Real Madrid because we have to play Wigan on Saturday.

"It's farcical. You play Saturday, you recover on Sunday. You're not going to have your XI ready on Sunday because you are going to have aches and pains and knocks.

"Then you travel to Madrid early Monday morning and you are not going to want to walk on to the pitch at the Bernabeu and start working on corners and set plays and shape because everyone will be looking at you.

"It's going to be very difficult to prepare for Real Madrid because Wigan are in the way."

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Mourinho: My players are 'dead'

Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho has declared his side 'dead' ahead of the Champions League quarter-final clash with Tottenham Hotspur on Tuesday.

The Portuguese coach suffered his first home defeat in 150 matches when his side were shocked 1-0 by Sporting Gijon in the La Liga on Saturday, a defeat which effectively killed off their title hopes as they trail leaders Barcelona by eight points.

However, the Los Blancos' Champions League hopes remain alive as they host Tottenham in the first-leg of their quarter-final tie on Tuesday.

Looking forward to the highly ancitipated clash, Mourinho isn't in the most confident of moods and admitted he would settle for a draw at the Santiago Bernabeu.

"I know our limitations, because the players are dead," the Special One was quoted as saying in the Daily Mirror.

"Even if we'd drawn 0-0 it would have been a bad result in the league. Against Spurs, though, it would be a good result - or at least it would not be a drama, especially if we have injured players back for the decisive game in London."

The former Chelsea boss also lamented on the absence of his creative players including Cristiano Ronaldo, who is a major doubt for Tuesday's game.

He added: "We lacked all our creative players, except Mesut Ozil.

"If Cristiano plays against Spurs it is because he and I are taking a risk. The doctor says he will only be for for the game Bilbao next week.

"Marcelo is out for for two weeks and Karim Benzema will only come to Bilbao and London, not play the home game.

"We could ignore the medical department but if it went wrong you would kill me and that would be risk.

"Now we have to see if we play people to try to settle the tie in the first leg or if we are are satisfied with a draw.

"But 0-0 at home is good and even 1-1 is not dramatic. It would be all open. So I'll talk to the injured players and decide whether we risk them."

This is the first time in seven years that Madrid have reached the last eight of Europe's premier club competition.

How did Mourinho get to 150?

ESPNSTAR.com takes a look at Jose Mourinho's outstanding home record which recently ended with Real Madrid's 1-0 loss to Sporting Gijon on Saturday.

It is official: Jose Mourinho's unbeaten home league streak has been broken.

On Saturday night, Real Madrid's loss to Sporting Gijon meant that after 150 attempts, a team finally managed to beat a side managed by Jose Mourinho on their home ground.

150 attempts. A club in a 20-team league plays 19 home games a season. Doing the math, that means Mourinho has gone almost eight seasons without losing a league game on his own turf.

That may seem impressive, but that is not all.

Let's take a look at the bigger picture, and include home matches in ALL competitions.

Since Mourinho joined Chelsea in 2004, till Saturday's loss to Sporting, he has only tasted defeat in one home game. One. A solitary loss in six and a half seasons. That was in 2006, when Chelsea lost 2-1 to Barcelona in the knockout round of the UEFA Champions League.

Here's a closer look at Mourinho's home record since his time at Stamford Bridge.

2004/05 Chelsea

Premier League: 14 wins, 5 draws, Champions League: 4 wins, 2 draws, FA Cup: 2 wins, League Cup: 1 win, 1 draw.

2005/06 Chelsea

Premier League: 18 wins, 1 draw, Champions League: 2 wins, 1 draw, 1 loss, FA Cup: 4 wins, League Cup: 1 draw.

2006/07 Chelsea

Premier League: 12 wins, 7 draws, Champions League: 5 wins, 1 draw, FA Cup: 3 wins, 1 draw, League Cup: 2 wins.

2007/08 Chelsea

Premier League: 2 wins, 1 draw, Champions League: 1 draw.

2008/09 Inter Milan

Serie A: 14 wins, 5 draws, Champions League: 2 wins, 2 draws, Coppa Italia: 3 wins.

2009/10 Inter Milan

Serie A: 15 wins, 4 draws, Champions League: 4 wins, 2 draws, Coppa Italia: 3 wins.

2010/11 Real Madrid (till Saturday's loss to Sporting Gijon)

La Liga: 14 wins, Champions League: 4 wins, Copa del Rey: 4 wins.

From his first game at Chelsea right up to the most recent match against Sporting Gijon, Mourinho has lost once in 168 home games.

That is a record that most managers can only dream of, yet the Special One can lay claim to this feat.

In this time, Mourinho has also landed two Premier League titles, two English League Cups, an FA Cup, two Serie A titles, a Coppa Italia and a Champions League trophy.

If his trophy cabinet and his outstanding home streak do not earn him recognition as the best manager of his generation, then nothing will.

Testament has to be paid to Sporting too, who in defeating Real at the Santiago Bernabeu, achieved a feat that the likes of Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool, AC Milan and Juventus and failed to accomplish.

The defeat could spell an end to Mourinho's dominance at home, which will likely inspire hope in clubs that travel to face Real in the future.

Or, it could just mean that Mourinho is preparing to embark on another 150 home games undefeated. If there's one man who could do it, it's the Portuguese.

Mourinho unbeaten home record ended

The La Liga race took a potentially decisive turn as Real Madrid lost 1-0 at home to Sporting Gijon while Barcelona won 1-0 at Villareal.

Gerard Pique's neatly-taken second-half winner at El Madrigal moved Barca eight points clear of Jose Mourinho's side at the top of La Liga - and Pep Guardiola's team also boast the better head-to-head record.

Sporting's victory at the Bernabeu earlier saw the end of Mourinho's nine-year, 150-match unbeaten home league run as coach of Porto, Chelsea, Inter Milan and now Madrid.

Miguel de las Cuevas, the former Atletico Madrid player, netted the only goal of the game in the 79th minute to end not only Mourinho's remarkable personal run but also Madrid's 100% record at home this season.

Even the return of Gonzalo Higuain after more than four months out through injury could not help Madrid, who badly missed key players such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Xabi Alonso.

Elsewhere in the Spanish top flight on Saturday evening, Roberto Soldado scored all four goals as Valencia came from 1-0 down to claim an emphatic 4-2 victory at Getafe to boost their bid for an automatic Champions League spot.

Manu gave Getafe a 13th-minute lead and there was little sign of what was to come before Soldado levelled just after half-time.

It heralded a spell of four goals in 31 minutes and, although Adrian Sardinero grabbed a late consolation, it was Soldado's night.