Spurs have nothing to lose tonight... and Jose is rattled
He turned it into "A Night at the Opera". Of course he did.
To be fair, you wouldn't expect anything else from Jose Mourinho, who would not want you to think it was Real Madrid against Spurs tonight rather than the Special One against all comers.
But as Mourinho made such a song and dance of revealing - shock - that Cristiano Ronaldo is fit to play after all, and did it all with the sulky pout that was surprisingly reminiscent of his last days at Stamford Bridge, the signs of tension cannot have done Tottenham any harm.
Of course, it is all phoney war, meaning nothing until the whistle blows this evening.
Indeed, I remember coming to Madrid with Manchester United 11 years ago, with Real seemingly in freefall and one regular in the Bernabeu press-box predicting: "I fear the Apocalypse."
But United were too timid, playing out a tame goalless draw and then ripped apart by Fernando Redondo - whose career was to be destroyed by injury a year later - at Old Trafford.
Spurs are in the Spanish capital because they have played with a fearlessness that nobody - including Harry Redknapp - could have predicted since they scrambled past the Young Boys on Berne in August.
Their display at the San Siro in the last round, when they took the game to a stunned AC Milan, needs to be the blueprint for this evening.
Yes, Real are better than Milan. Far better.
But the shock home reverse to Sporting Gijon, which left them eight points adrift of Barcelona and all their eggs in the Champions League basket, has cranked up the pressure on Mourinho.
That explained his downcast demeanour yesterday, with the press conference cut short at his bequest.
Maybe Mourinho had remembered what happened in September 2007, when he raged against the cash constraints put on him at Chelsea on the eve of the opening home group game against Rosenborg.
Mourinho was all over the place, berating the supporters in the privacy of the dressing room, angry at the world. And, following a 1-1 draw, sacked within 24 hours.
Real will not cut the Special One loose tomorrow night, win or lose.
But should things not go to plan, the club will encourage the hounds of media hell to be let loose, slavering at Mourinho's exposed flesh.
He knows it, too and while Real, rightly, must be the favourites going in, Spurs have to take the opportunity and seek to seize the initiative.
Redknapp's side will, it seems, be true to that approach, with Aaron Lennon and the fit-again Gareth Bale on the flanks, and Luka Modric and Rafa Van Der Vaart both in the starting side.
Van Der Vaart, of course, knows all about the Bernabeu after leaving Real to join Spurs on the final day of the summer transfer window and the Dutchman agreed Redknapp's side need to be true to their nature.
"We've not played well the last few games but playing against Madrid is something special," said Van Der Vaart last night. "We need a goal to have a good chance of coming through. We want to score and attack and my feeling is that we have a good chance."
For Redknapp, given the official Mourinho seal of approval, this is not about having to prove himself. He has more than done that already.
But it is about his team having to prove to themselves, as they have done throughout their fairytale ride, that they deserve to be in such elite company.
Redknapp said: "It's only a good night if you pay well. It depends on the 90 minutes.
"That's all that matters, not me or the stadium. Real Madrid are one of the great clubs and it's great to be bringing team here but if you don't play well it's not a good night."
Spurs may never get such a chance again. Certainly, even if they are back in a couple of years, this team will not be together when it happens.
It is why Redknapp and his players know they have to relish the moment, to grasp the initiative and try to impose themselves on the game, rather than reacting to the momentum of the home side.
As tasks go, few are harder. Yet Spurs have shown their qualities, have demonstrated they have what it takes to hurt anybody, that they are not scared of dining at the high table of the European game.
You do not get much more royal blooded than AC Milan, six times winners. But one club supercedes them - and that is the club Spurs face tonight and next Wednesday.
The difference is that Real HAVE to win the Champions League. Nobody in Spain gives Tottenham an earthly. And that, perhaps above everything else, gives them their chance.
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