Spurs Pull a Champions League Point outta Real Madrid

Tottenham left Real Madrid's fortress, the Santiago Bernabéu, with their heads held high. 

They deserved to carry themselve that way, too.

To be sure, Spurs spent a good portion of the match ducking and ping, finding their moments here and there enough to stay in touch with the mighty Spanish side.

Shockingly, it worked. The match finished 1-1.

Los Blancos have lost their mojo the last few matches, and that remained evident on the pitch in this one.

They had the ball twice as often as Tottenham, completed twice as many passes, and took twice as many shots.

And yet ...

Tottenham opened the scoring in the 28th mintune, as they induced Real's Raphäel Varane to score into his own net:

Wow. Varane would fit right in with the USA's central mids.

You know it's a day of reckoning for Spurs when something like this happens at an opportune time. 

In any case, the night was not finished. Cristiano Ronaldo is back in scoring mode. The Portuguee international -- who obviously calmed down from his summer rant -- leveled up the scoring with his signature move, a penalty:

The ruler of spot kicks, without a doubt. 

With Borussia Dortmund coming up short at this level, the only real drama in Group H now is between Real and Spurs for bracket seeding:

The top two's return match is at White Hart Lane -- which will give way to Tottenham's new home next season -- on Wed 1 Nov.

Spurs still need to go to Dortmund, where Real picked up a 1-3 victory.

Thus, how Tottenham fares against der BVB and its young side will be key in determining who goes forward as the higher seed in bracket play.