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It's Ronaldo vs Kane at Santiago Bernabeu

Tottenham Hotspur travel to Santiago Bernabeu in a high-voltage Champions League group tie.

Cristiano Ronaldo

Bengaluru, October 17: The showdown between Cristiano Ronaldo and Harry Kane is the talking point as the Champions League action resumes today (October 17) with holders Real Madrid hosting Tottenham Hotspur at Santiago Bernabeu.

The battle between two of Europe's most lethal forwards, who will meet twice in the next fortnight promises to be exciting. Both of them have scored 43 goals each this season from the same number of matches (38).

Saturday's 2-1 La Liga win at Getafe was by no means vintage Real, but it saw them show their character by scoring a late winner, Cristiano Ronaldo claiming his first league goal of the season.

Real coach Zinedine Zidane saluted him for breaking his duck and praised Ronaldo's professionalism after a difficult start to the campaign.

He said: "Well, I'm very happy, he deserved that first goal.

"He works hard, not just in the game but he's a professional. He's always the first one out, last in on the training ground. I've a lot of respect for him, it's not easy to do what he does.

"He wants to improve always. In the Champions League he has lots of goals and we want him to be comfortable and keep doing that [scoring goals]."

Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino recently sang the praises of Sergio Ramos, saying he would pay to watch the defender play, and Zidane was similarly glowing of the Spain international.

"I could spend an hour talking about Sergio," Zidane added. "He's our captain, leader, but also off the pitch he is a leader, that's what I want to underline.

"He's not just a player, but it's his attitude as a person - he's a phenomenal person.

"He's very noble; if he has to say something, he says it to your face. He's direct and I like that.

"He's very important, the captain and leader of this club. He got here when he was 20, I actually played with him for a year, and he hasn't changed.

"He's still here, so that means he's been doing a good job."

Meanwhile, Gareth Bale's persistent injury problems are showing no signs of improvement and Zidane confirmed he will miss the home leg with Spurs and could even miss the trip to Wembley on November 1.

The Wales international has endured an injury-hit start to the season and has not played for club or country since September 26 due to a calf problem.

When he could make his Madrid return remains unclear with Zidane unable to pinpoint a fixture in which he might feature.

Zidane has even accepted that playing against his former team at Wembley at the start of next month is by no means a certainty for Bale.

"I can't tell you the date for Bale," Zidane told reporters. "We have to wait and see.

"We know that each day is a day less - he wants to get back quickly of course.

"But on Gareth I can't say if he'll be back in the return game or not. I hope he is, but I can't assure you of anything."

In another main fixture of the day, former Premier League champions Manchester City host Serie A giants, Napoli.

Bundesliga leaders Dortmund are away to APOEL in Nicosia and Liverpool face a tricky trip to Maribor in the other exciting ties of the day.

Fixtures

(All matches start at 12.15 am IST)


GROUP E
NK Maribor vs Liverpool
Spartak Moscow vs Sevilla


GROUP F
Feyenoord vs Shakhtar Donetsk
Manchester City vs Napoli


GROUP G
Monaco vs Besiktas
RB Leipzig vs FC Porto


GROUP H
Apoel Nicosia vs Borussia Dortmund
Real Madrid vs Tottenham Hotspur

Story first published: Tuesday, October 17, 2017, 11:59 [IST]
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