Tottenham have been shredded by European champions Internazionale and are down to 10 men and trailing 4-0 after only 35 minutes. The one batsqueak of hope is the plight of 'the best right-back in the world', Maicon, who is finding Gareth Bale's pace a little troubling. Out Spurs come for the second-half and Bale eviscerates the full-back, pushing the ball beyond him, careering around him and leaving the poor man breathing through his backside with his reputation in tatters. Bale leaves the field with the ball up his jersey after scoring a hat-trick. Within weeks a national newspaper is trumpeting its big, exclusive story that Inter had secured a deal for Bale.