Thursday, April 4, 2013
Tottenham vs Basel April 4, 2013
The Swiss outfit have been regulars in continental competition in recent years and last season reached the last 16 of the Champions League having seen off Manchester United in the group phase. Since then the club has lost talented young midfielders Xerdan Shaqiri and Granit Xhaka, while Murat Yakin has taken over as manager, but Basel showed the quality they still possess by knocking out one of the tournament favorites, and conquerors of Liverpool, Zenit St Petersburg, in the last round.
The team has changed and the manager has changed but this is a team that is used to winning trophies and used to playing European football,” Villas-Boas said, according to Tottenham’s official website. “So they are in the same line as teams we’ve faced before, Lyon and Inter Milan, perhaps not with the same European pedigree and trophy cabinet, but a team that is used to winning and that makes them a difficult opponent.”
