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Tottenham look to brush past Basel

Tottenham Hotspur FC have home advantage for the first leg against FC Basel 1893, who are looking to avoid another quarter-final exit against an English side.

André Villas-Boas and Tottenham stalwart Jan Vertonghen
André Villas-Boas and Tottenham stalwart Jan Vertonghen ©Getty Images

The only former UEFA Cup winners left in the competition take on the UEFA Europa League's last remaining domestic champions as Tottenham Hotspur FC meet FC Basel 1893 in the quarter-finals.

Previous meetings
• The sides are meeting for the first time in UEFA competition.

• Tottenham's five games against Swiss sides have ended W3 D0 L2 (W2 D0 L1 at home). Those five matches produced 22 goals, with Tottenham scoring four or more in their three victories.

• Basel's record in 16 games against English clubs is W3 D5 L8 (W0 D3 L5 in England). Their only previous game in London ended in a 1-0 loss to Fulham FC in the 2009/10 UEFA Europa League group stage.

• Basel eliminated Manchester United FC from the 2011/12 UEFA Champions League group stage, drawing 3-3 in Manchester before a 2-1 home win on matchday six to reach the round of 16.

• The last time Basel reached the quarter-finals of this competition, in 2005/06, they were eliminated by another English club, Middlesbrough FC, despite winning the first leg 2-0 at home. They also scored first in the return, but conceded four times in the final 57 minutes of the tie to lose 4-3 on aggregate.

• Basel's coach at that time was former Tottenham manager Christian Gross, who was in charge at White Hart Lane from November 1997 to September 1998 before joining Basel. There he won four national titles and four Swiss Cups (1999-2009).

Match background
• Spurs are on a four-game winning streak at home in Europe.

• A 4-1 loss at FC Internazionale Milano in their round of 16 second leg ended Tottenham's ten-game unbeaten run in Europe, which stretched back to last season's UEFA Europa League group stage.

• Basel are without a win in six European away games (D3 L3) since a 1-0 victory at Molde FK in this season's UEFA Champions League third qualifying round. Their winless run on the road in the UEFA Europa League stretches back seven games (D4 L3) to a 2-0 win at PFC CSKA Sofia in the 2009/10 group stage.

• Three English teams – Chelsea FC, Newcastle United FC and Tottenham – have reached the last eight. In each of the previous two seasons in which a country has taken three clubs to the quarter-finals, one of that number has gone on to lift the trophy – FC Porto (Portugal) in 2010/11 and Club Atlético de Madrid (Spain) in 2011/12 – beating opponents from their own country in the final.

• Basel are the only reigning domestic champions still in the competition. They have also played more European matches this season than any other surviving team (16), having begun their continental campaign in the second qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League.

• Tottenham are the only side left in the competition who have won this trophy before, lifting the UEFA Cup in 1971/72 and 1983/84.

• Tottenham could become the fourth side to lift this trophy for a third time, along with Juventus, Inter and Liverpool FC.

• Basel have yet to reach the semi-finals of a major European club competition.

Team facts
• Defenders Kyle Walker and Jan Vertonghen have appeared in all 930 minutes of Tottenham's UEFA Europa League campaign. Midfielder Aaron Lennon has also made ten appearances since the start of the group stage, but only eight starts.

• Goalkeeper Yann Sommer is the only Basel player who has featured in all 900 minutes of their campaign since the start of the group stage.

• Basel's David Degen has made 44 UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League appearances – more than any player left in the competition, though SL Benfica's Luisão is just behind him with 43.

• At 41, Tottenham goalkeeper Brad Friedel is the oldest player left in the competition. He is over six years older than his manager André Villas-Boas, and also has over three years on Basel coach Murat Yakin.

• Basel forward Alexander Frei – who will hang up his boots in the summer – has scored the most European club competition goals of any of the players left in the competition: 32 in 59 games.

• Basel have scored ten of their 12 goals since the start of the group stage after the 60th minute, including six between the 76th minute and full time.

• Five of Tottenham's 15 goals in normal time have come between the 76th minute and the final whistle.

• Tottenham's 17-year-old Serbian central defender Miloš Veljković was born and raised in Basel, and started his career with the Swiss champions before moving to White Hart Lane in 2011.

• Jermain Defoe featured in England's 3-1 win against Switzerland at Basel's St. Jakob-Park in a UEFA EURO 2012 qualifier on 7 September 2010.

• André Villas-Boas received his first break in coaching as a teenager from then Porto boss Sir Bobby Robson, and later assisted José Mourinho at Porto, Chelsea and Inter before striking out alone at A. Académica de Coimbra and then leading Porto to a domestic double and the UEFA Cup in 2010/11. A move to Chelsea that summer proved short-lived, before he took charge at Tottenham in July 2012.

• Villas-Boas (FC Porto 2010/11) and Chelsea's Rafael Benítez (Valencia CF 2003/04) are the only coaches left in the competition to have won the trophy.

• Murat Yakin replaced Heiko Vogel as Basel coach in October. The older brother of fellow former Swiss international Hakan Yakin, he was capped 49 times as a defender and represented Grasshopper Club, VfB Stuttgart, Fenerbahçe SK and 1. FC Kaiserslautern, but enjoyed his best seasons as captain of Basel, leading them to three league titles and two Swiss Cups. He has also coached FC Concordia Basel, FC Thun and FC Luzern.

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