Tottenham Hotspur defender Eric Dier has talked up the importance of facing top opponents like Real Madrid and Bayern Munich ahead of the new Premier League season.
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Tottenham fans used to sing that Bale plays on the left, but the Welshman is likely to get more opportunities through the middle under Benitez.
It was another defeat for Spurs, who lost 2-1 to an MLS All-Star team last week, while Real added Pochettino’s men to their list of pre-season scalps, alongside Manchester City, Inter and Milan, who have all been beaten by the 10-time European champions over the past fortnight.
New Real boss Rafael Benitez deployed Bale in a central attacking role against Spurs and the former left-back believes that is where he can do his best work, although he faces serious competition from the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema.
Bale picked the ball up 30 yards out from goal, before drilling an unstoppable shot into the corner of Michel Vorm’s net.
The Argentine winger skied over from a Kyle Walker cut-back in a busy opening 15 minutes that contrasted with the way the rest of the game played out.
If Harry Kane plays the majority of both games, then Tottenham’s season opener may start off slow and put the pressure on them from the get-go.
Mauricio Pochettino says he can not do anything about the money Tottenham spent on reinforcements in the summer of 2013.
The Wales forward darted towards the Spurs box and his 25-yard dipping strike beat Vorm.
Sergio Ramos was booked for a rash challenge on Christian Eriksen before Bale doubled Real’s lead in the second half after Nabil Bentaleb gave the ball away.
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“We tried to change the (United) game to Sunday but it was impossible for the Premier League and we said we needed to manage (things) in a different way”.
