After three days debating the Nanigate debacle, Tottenham produced something much more positive to hog the limelight - a memorable night at White Hart Lane against the reigning European champions no less. But great performances like that lead to higher and often unrealistic expectations.

Key to their 3-1 win over Inter was another masterclass from Gareth Bale. It’s astonishing to think he’s the same player who appeared to be jinxed during that terrible period when every time he set foot on to the pitch for Spurs they would fail to win.

He struggled to live up to his early promise and was nearly loaned out to Nottingham Forest a year ago. Now, on current form at least, he would walk into any team in Europe. And that includes Real Madrid and Barcelona.

It may be ridiculous to compare him to Lionel Messi, but this generation’s most gifted player is probably the only one on the continent who is more fun to watch than Tottenham’s prodigy at the moment. And that’s about the biggest compliment anyone could give to Bale.

 

It’s hard to pinpoint what makes him the exciting player he is. There’s no surprises in store for the opposition – they know exactly what’s coming from him but are virtually powerless to stop it.

He doesn’t necessarily use wonderful dribbling skill to beat players the way a Messi or a Zidane would. His pace is a factor, but there’s quicker.

The key element in Bale’s game is his ability to take as few touches as possible while making up enormous ground. Every time he sets off on a mazy run, each touch seems to be spot on – just far enough in front of him so he is able to maintain a constant speed without slowing down.

It sounds simple enough, but when most players attempt the same thing they tend to take a heavy touch or too many touches, which favours defenders, or at best they lose their momentum and are forced to check their runs and lay the ball off to someone else.

Bale glides effortlessly and the opposition doesn’t know whether to close him down or back away. But it won’t happen this way every time. He’ll have to be even more selective when he decides to play it simple or go for the juggernaut as opposing teams inevitably double or even triple up on him.

He’s not the only one in a fired up Spurs side. Luka Modric demonstrated his touch and vision while even an unfit Rafael Van der Vaart continues to make a mockery out of his paltry transfer fee.

It’s not something that has been heard at White Hart Lane for years – but they genuinely have world class players. Now comes a different type of pressure – the weight of expectancy. And that could be their biggest obstacle as they attempt to qualify for the last 16.