What do FC Basel need to do to get into the next round of the Europa League? Beat Tottenham Hotspur, of course. That feat sounds far more straightforward this week than it did last -- their visit to White Hart Lane saw the Swiss side grab two vital away goals and outplay the Londoners in a 2-2 draw, and perhaps more importantly, included injuries to both Gareth Bale and Aaron Lennon.
Basel vs. Tottenham Hotspur, 2013 UEFA Europa League: Preview and TV schedule
Tottenham need to go to Switzerland without most of their best players and score at least once to advance to the Europa League semifinals. Have fun!
Oh, and Basel have won four straight Europa League games at St. Jakob-Park. If Tottenham were the favourites to get to the semifinals before the first kick, that’s surely changed now.
Expect an exciting match. The first leg was absurd, a high-paced affair featuring questionable defending but relentless attacking and for a while it seemed like Basel would be able to run away with the whole thing, only for Spurs to haul themselves right back into contention with goals from Emmanuel Adebayor and Gylfi Sigurdsson. The much-maligned Adebayor now has goals in each of his last two appearances, and with much of Tottenham's firepower on the front lines, they'll be relying on him more than ever.
Basel injuries and suspensions
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Tottenham Hotspur injuries and suspensions
Out: Gareth Bale (ankle), Aaron Lennon (knee), Sandro (knee), William Gallas (calf), Jermain Defoe (hip).
Date/Time: Thursday, April 11. 9:05 pm CEST, 8:05 pm BST, 3:05 pm EDT.
Venue: St. Jakob-Park, Basel, Switzerland.
TV information: TeleClub Sport (Switzerland), ITV 1 (UK), Fox Soccer Channel (USA).
Watch online: Fox Soccer 2 Go (USA)
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