Andre Villas-Boas' hopes of lifting the Europa League for a second time hang in the balance thanks to a woeful defensive performance and a serious-looking injury to Gareth Bale in the 2-2 draw against Basle.
Basle arrived in north London with a reputation for giant-killing after last year's defeat of Manchester United and Bayern Munich. The Swiss champions lived up to the hype, scoring two impressive away goals, but their task was made so much easier by some poor Spurs defending.
Valentin Stocker punished Kyle Naughton's lax marking by slotting home the first and a shell-shocked Tottenham were 2-0 down by the 34th minute when Fabian Frei was left alone to head home a corner. Emmanuel Adebayor's fifth of the season and Gylfi Sigurdsson's second-half effort brought the scores level, but the two away goals leave Villas-Boas' men in serious danger of exiting the competition at the quarter-final stages.
Source: PA
