Adebayor delighted by slick Madrid display

Real Madrid CF forward Emmanuel Adebayor said a determination to bounce back from Saturday's Liga defeat by Real Sporting de Gijón provided the motivation for his side's 4-0 UEFA Champions League victory against Tottenham Hotspur FC.

The weekend setback damaged Madrid's chances of catching domestic rivals FC Barcelona, but the search for a tenth European Champion Clubs' Cup is very much on thanks to Tuesday's quarter-final first-leg display. Adebayor was heavily involved in the comprehensive success, heading a fourth-minute opener and nodding in a 57th-minute second against visitors reduced to ten men by Peter Crouch's early dismissal, before Ángel Di María and Cristiano Ronaldo sealed a perfect night for José Mourinho's men.

"Our motivation was key tonight – we knew we didn't want to reproduce a performance like Saturday's," an ecstatic Adebayor told UEFA.com. "We all showed great personality and great character and, in the end, whenever a team plays with spirit and hunger they always have a chance to win. Our desire paved the way for our reward and we're extremely happy."

Currently on loan from Manchester City FC, the former Togo international said he would be delighted to extend his stay in the Spanish capital and, should he add to the five goals he has already scored in 14 outings for Madrid, he may get his wish.

"Since I've joined this club, I've had the opportunity to play in three different competitions and I've now scored in each of them," the 27-year-old explained. "I was hoping for my first Champions League goal for Madrid against Lyon in the last round, but unfortunately it didn't happen. I made sure to keep my confidence high, though, while continuing to train hard and today it paid off. Now the most important thing is to keep going while making sure I do well on the pitch."

Doing precisely that earned Adebayor the vote as the UEFA.com Player Rater Top Player on Tuesday, yet the ex-Arsenal FC man insisted no one at the club would be letting the Santiago Bernabéu showing go to their heads with next week's return encounter to come.

"In the second leg we have to try to forget what happened today," he said. "We're well aware that in football anything can happen, so we'll be going there to win, not to draw or to lose by a minimum margin. I was very happy to score against Tottenham and I hope I will do so again in London."